LeanSafe is our workplace improvement programme. We work alongside your leaders and workers to remove everyday hazards, cut unnecessary lifting and handling, and put better ways of working in place.
A cluttered walkway, a pallet in the wrong spot or a job that needs the same lift over and over. Each one is a risk to your people and a drag on the work.
LeanSafe combines practical Lean coaching with a clear focus on injury prevention. We help your team see where the work creates avoidable risk, choose the fixes and check they make a real difference.
We use leader and worker questionnaires, onsite observation, practical workshops and improvement projects. The scope is agreed around your business, your people and the risks in your work.
Work-related claims lodged with ACC in 2025, in the areas LeanSafe focuses on.
Work-related claims lodged in 2025 under Lifting / Carrying / Strain.
Work-related claims lodged in 2025 under Slipping / Skidding on Foot and Tripping / Stumbling.
ACC costs in 2025 for active work-related Lifting / Carrying / Strain claims, excluding GST. Active claims can include injuries from earlier years.
Source: ACC data supplied to The Lean Hub, Tables 1 and 5, 2025 calendar year. These figures show the scale of claims in selected accident-cause categories. They do not measure injuries prevented by LeanSafe.
Lean looks at how work flows and where effort is wasted. Used alongside proper safety and ergonomic assessment, it helps cut out unnecessary movement, repeat handling and congestion.
Materials you use often, stored near the job, mean less carrying and searching.
Better storage keeps walkways and access routes free.
The right height and layout cuts out awkward reaching.
Fixing recurring defects stops the same physical task being done twice.
Every change is checked for safety as well as productivity. Saving time must never add force, repetition, fatigue or pressure on your people.
We use 5S and process improvement to find where clutter, storage, spills and movement create hazards, then work out why they keep happening.
Falls from height need specific controls and competent advice. LeanSafe can support the planning alongside those controls.
We look at tasks that put unnecessary strain on muscles, joints and tendons, using observation, worker feedback and proper risk assessment.
Task rotation needs checking too. Swapping between two equally demanding jobs may not help much.
Results depend on the task, the controls chosen and how well the changes are put in place.
Give everything a suitable home, clear out the clutter and set up routines that keep work areas usable.
Trace how people and materials move, then redesign the flow to cut unnecessary trips, handling and awkward access.
Make the agreed safe way easy to understand, including checks, who is responsible and what to do when something goes wrong.
Involve the people doing the work and check skills and workloads, so the improvements are practical.
Get to the bottom of recurring hazards and rework, then fix the process or equipment causing them.
A structured programme to find the priorities, make practical changes and review the results.
Leader and worker input, onsite observation and a review of hazards and existing controls give us a baseline.
Choose improvement projects with your team, with clear owners and measures.
Workshops and coaching on the floor to test changes to layout, handling, flow and daily routines.
Check against the baseline, get worker feedback, record progress and agree next steps.
A six-month refresher to keep the improvements working. We revisit the agreed actions, check for drift, refresh the team and find the next priorities. The follow-up is agreed with each business.
Workers know where jobs are awkward, where shortcuts happen and what gets in the way. Their experience is central to LeanSafe.
Leaders commit to supporting everyone to speak up and to responding to concerns. Serious or recurring hazards are escalated through an agreed process, and immediate risks are dealt with straight away, not left for the next workshop.
A short run without injuries doesn’t prove a risk is gone. Before and after records show what changed and what still needs attention.
Manufacturing, processing, construction and trades, warehousing, logistics and other operational workplaces. Anywhere handling, materials and layout affect safety and performance. We tailor the work to the tasks and conditions on your site.
LeanSafe brings our practical Lean approach to safer work design. We help leaders and workers turn ideas into real changes and follow through on what’s agreed.
LeanSafe works with your existing health and safety systems. Where specialist ergonomic, engineering or safety input is needed, we bring it in as part of the agreed scope.
Want to cut avoidable physical strain and improve how work flows? Tell us about your workplace and we’ll talk through what a LeanSafe programme could look like.