Adoption of Lean Six Sigma to improve safety culture - a case study of Indian manufacturing unit

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a business process improvement strategy widely used to improve efficiencies in the business. LSS, which is an integration of Lean and Six Sigma, has helped decrease various non-value-added activities, including accidents. This research paper discusses the implementation of LSS methodology using 'define, measure, analyse, improve, control' (DMAIC) to reduce accidents in a particular manufacturing unit into consideration. A framework of the LSS-DMAIC approach was proposed to reduce accidents, improve key metrics and improve the overall safety culture. The techniques used were brainstorming, the cause-and-effect diagram, and Pareto analysis. Two sample T-test was used to authenticate the results. The study's primary finding was the successful and effective implementation of the LSS framework in the manufacturing unit. As a result of the exercise, accidents that are non-value-added activities were reduced. The study is novel in nature, not only for theoretical implications, but also for the practical approach applied to the manufacturing units.