Journal of Tea Science Research. 2015, Vol. 5, No. 6, 1-14
8
after the work and cleaning was over. Thus work
instructions were very important in tea industry
because of the lower education of the factory workers as
well as lower awareness on food safety, personnel
hygiene and sanitation of the factory environment.
Typical work instruction documentation shall include
following areas for the complete understanding of
the assigned work which can be written as:
1.
Subject
The subject of work instruction which can be a
process or activity to be performed in most instances
2.
Objectives
Objectives of writing and letting someone read the
given work instruction
3.
Responsibility
Who: the position or person is responsible for what
activity
4.
Instructions/Activities
What/How: any activity or process has systematic
way of doing and sequence for operating for a given
task, which has to be explained in a manner that the
relevant operator can easily understand and act
without very much guidance and supervision.
When/Frequency: it is also necessary to instruct
how often the “Who” does the “What”.
i.e. Starting a machine required to be verified for, if
it fits for the operation first, then it is necessary to
power on and check for if the indicators are okay
and then it is the time to push the start button.
5.
Subject Area Cleaning
It was mandatory to mention following areas of any
cleaning schedule for the complete understanding of
the work as well as relevant requirements.
a.
Time of cleaning
b.
Required number of workers
c.
Objects and equipment meant for cleaning
d.
Equipments and materials required for cleaning
e.
Method of cleaning
f.
Frequency of cleaning for specific objects or
equipment
6.
Standards to be maintained or audited
after cleaning for verification
This is actually the last step of 5S and it is
mandatory to maintain sustainability of the ongoing
work as well as its continuous improvements.
7.
Records
Evidence of the relevant works carried out and the
cleaning checklists that are mandatory to find out
the reasons for deviations as well as to prove that all
the planned activities were followed in the
systematic way to comply with system requirements.
8.
References (if any)
References and guidelines as well as records/reports
related to the work instruction
Cleaning and housekeeping was another synergetic
area of 5S and ISO 22000 where it can be used
separately or in combination of work instructions. In
pursuit of excellence and to reduce the number of
documents to be used in the production floor as well
as to make it more relevant and easily understandable;
cleaning and housekeeping was also merged into the
work instructions where it was really belonged. It
was mentioned in the given format above under the
section 5, subject area cleaning. However, it was
also enriched with relevant standards to be observed
by the supervisor after cleaning as well as records
and references relevant to the work in progress or to
the work instruction; was also given in the same
book let. On the other hand, these documents have
to be prepared in the local language or the mother
tongue of the workers to let them understand easily.
The cleaning check list of the relevant area (i.e.
figure 03) also added to the work instruction booklet
which was further simplify the understanding of the
reader who intern understand what is the duty to
perform and how to perform and the way of cleaning
of the workstation as well as records to be completed
after completion of the given job function.
A typical example of a prepared Work Instruction
translated to English which was initially developed
in Sinhala was given below.
1.0
Subject – Withering
2.0
Objectives
Preparation of leaf for rolling by removing the
water and changing the physical state of the
leaf.
