Cell Phone Use Policy in factory operations

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Permalink Reply by Alicia Lemke on January 21, 2009 at 4:05pm

Hi, Tony -
This issue comes up in EVERY training class and consultation I do. It is actually a very complex issue. If you totally prohibit having cell phones on the "floor", how do you check and enforce? If you allow them to be used during breaks and lunch, are there any guidelines so that others don't have to be privy to private conversations? If supervisors, managers or sales reps are issued cell phones and expected to answer when a call comes in, are there specific places they must go to use these phones?

Also, remember that cell phones are commonly used for text messaging and taking photos, so in any policy, those issues need to be addressed.

I do have some sample policy statements and such, but it seems your company needs to be totally sure you want to prohibit ALL cell phones in factory operations. If so, let me know and I'll get you some of those samples.

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Permalink Reply by Tony Kotnik on January 22, 2009 at 7:44am

Alicia

We want to achieve the following: 1) keep people on task, to avoid accidents due to distraction, etc., so we prohibit personal use of electronics in general. We also address the use of any type of electronics or equipment that is not rated for use in classified area, whether business-related or not.

This starts with operations in our own manufacturing facilities, but extends to our sales and technical field people, who work in manufacturing facilities and construction sites of our customers, travel by car, etc.

I would like to learn from the experience of others, what has been successful, what issues they've seen and resolved, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Paris on February 27, 2012 at 11:09am

Alicia, we want to address  cell phone usage on the shop floor and wouls appreciate some sample policiy wording.

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Permalink Reply by Phil La Duke on January 26, 2009 at 2:15pm

As I mentioned in another thread, a company with which I worked had a fatality because a pedestrian was hit by a forklift while talking on a cell phone. After investigating the incident, the team found that a major contributor was that the individual who was killed was talking on a cellphone and not paying attention to his surroundings. The plant adopted a cellphone policy that prohibited cell phone use except in designated areas (typically offices and break areas) and prohibited the use of cellphones while moving (walking, driving, or riding in a cart.) Enforcement of these policies was immediate and all but universal. I myself was stopped by a worker (as I was walking through the parking lot and I instinctively answered my phone) and reminded that "walking in a parking lot requires my undivided attention" and that "if my phone call is important enough to answer then it's important enough to stop and give it my full attention." I didn't feel like I was being reprimanded, I felt like the worker cared about my safety. It's unfortunate that it took the death of a worker to change the culture such that unsafe use of a phone would not be tolerated. Obviously, I'm a little more personally invested in this issue than some, but if I see someone doing something truly stupid in traffic, 9 times out of 10 it's because the driver is on the cellphone.

As for the difficulty in enforcing cellphone usage, I think it gets far easier if you have a policy that restricts the areas and activities during which a cellphone can be used instead of prohibiting the TIME in which they are used, or of the simple possession of a cellphone.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Banning on January 26, 2009 at 4:18pm

I also work in a manufacturing environment. our policy is pretty basic. Attached for your review.

Attachments:

• Mobile Phone Policy.doc, 87 KB

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Permalink Reply by Randy on March 11, 2009 at 8:49am

Manufacturing Plant = cell phones must stay in toolboxes until breaks; since this was implemented I think supervisors are handling any non-compliance. Next step would be no cell phones so most people are abiding.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Paris on February 27, 2012 at 11:10am

Alicia, we are trying to address the use of cell phones in our manufacturing plant.  Any sample policy wording would be appreciated.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Balduzzi on April 17, 2012 at 2:31pm

Hello Tony,

I posted this in another forum along with a Distracted Operation Kit......maybe this is a bit late but here goes....

Attachments:

• Workplace Distraction Policy Template.doc, 40 KB
• Workplace Distractions 2012 - LFL.pdf, 42 KB

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