MD Room = Wash Room

If you are in food business , keep this as dictum.

Trust me , if the workers wash room is as clean as the managing directors room , quality is holistically achieved.

Quality begins from the Wash Room

Quality management system , quality audit , quality circles , quality assurance , quality control ,? quality life etc are the words, almost, all of us would have come across. Quality is important subject and lot of time and energy goes on the subject. It is business critical? as the quality in every aspect of business is important. The current context in the article is with reference to the quality in a manufacturing set up.

I have worked in many organisations and have seen many manufacturing units. Most of these units have well decorated and equipped labs and offices. There are lot of activities that are being conducted in these units around the subject. Quality is everybody’s business and everybody contributes in the over all quality. These sentences eco in the premises along with posters and placards accentuating the importance of quality.

Quality in any organisation is delivered through people primarily. Those who produce it foremost , those who transport it , those who store and distribute it. These people who are involved in the this entire quality chain have certain basic requirements to maintain the hygiene that has bearing on the quality , both tangible as well as intangible. One such basic requirement is the wash room facility. If the unit in? reference is in food and dairy , this becomes ultra critical. People visiting the wash room would come back to the shop floor carrying bacterias and viruses . They come back and work on machine ,may be with gloves and hair cap but if the show is the carrier then the bacteria would travel in to the machine eventually and shall contaminate the product too.There are bacterias that survive sub zero temperature , hence even ice cream or chilling units are not insulated.

I think it is very important to ensure bacteria free environment that includes , movement from the work place to the wash room and the washroom itself. Sanitisation of the premises at appropriate intervals will go a long way. Wash rooms are generally ignored areas and specially if these wash rooms are for the workers ,it is must for you to visit and check. I have seen lot of factories and wash rooms generally are neglected areas. Same organisation , when you visit the corporate office , the wash rooms standards are very different. One clear cut area to be really worked upon by the Admin function in the factories is the wash rooms. Factories act and other statutes? do talk about the cleanliness but , it is still a long way.

If you want to see the commitment of the organisation towards quality , check the wash room and be sure of what is experience there is the over all quality.

As Philip Crosby said “quality is free” but it begin from the wash room.

Jai Ho!