"Lean Construction: an approach conducive to prevention", the new work of the OPPBTP

This new book presents the results, which demonstrate the broad convergence between Lean and prevention and their joint positive contribution to the performance of construction operations.

Lean Construction, an asset not to be overlooked

Born in the 1980s in the United States, Lean is based on a number of principles aimed at improving production quality, reducing waste and meeting the need for deadlines and costs.

The OPPBTP wanted to implement and observe the deployment of Lean in the field of construction and make its contribution on sites. It was a question of anticipating by a methodical, concerted, evolutionary and evaluated study, all the gears of the site from its conception. The objective was to match the available resources with the means allocated to the project to achieve maximum quality, by focusing on overall performance, balance between actors, safety and the preservation of working conditions. operators and supervisors.

This new book complements the study report published in 2018, "Lean Construction - approach to optimizing production and reducing waste on site", published by the FFB Nouvelle Aquitaine and the OPPBTP following the implementation place of an observation program on construction sites. These experimental projects carried out by the OPPBTP and its partners have demonstrated the interest of Lean in construction operations and its major role in enabling companies to combine prevention and performance.

An educational and comprehensive book for construction professionals

This book brings together all the keys to facilitate the appropriation and implementation of Lean Construction by all stakeholders on a site. The OPPBTP thus wishes to help the latter to seize it and to discover this new mode of collaborative work. It is a question of bringing together all the stakeholders in a preventive, cooperative and efficient approach.

The book reviews the history of Lean and traces its development and evaluation on various experimental sites. It also offers tools for a balanced deployment. The OPPBTP thus approaches Lean from the perspective of occupational risk prevention in order to promote the skills development of all stakeholders.

The OPPBTP offers a vision of Lean Construction based on 8 fundamental principles:

• Transparency : formulate clearly and precisely objectives allowing their acceptance and their application by all.
• The objectives : create a synergy around the challenges of the different actors involved on a site to achieve an optimal level of performance.
• Commitment of stakeholders : encourage stakeholders to commit to respecting the assigned objectives.
• Anticipation : controlling events thanks to a multifactorial analysis.
• Everyone's participation : improve quality, reduce delays, reduce occupational risks and increase performance by sharing and pooling information between all stakeholders.
• Added value : identify the vector tasks of disorganization and waste of time in order to propose the adapted solutions.
• The amelioration keeps going : set up reliable indicators to monitor the progress made, taking into account the errors made and the remedies found.
• Visual management : create visual aids to make site meetings concrete and operational.

These principles are accompanied by a number of tools. The OPPBTP details the advantages and the means of putting each of them into practice and gives many concrete application examples:

• The last planner system : this collaborative planning is a comprehensive site management tool based on the participation and consultation of all stakeholders.
• Monitoring indicators : this is the list of objectives to be achieved, presented in a simple, fast and visual way and accessible to all. Each important activity is linked to a relevant indicator in order to check its progress and its percentage of achievement compared to what was planned.
• The 5S method : this approach aims to improve cleanliness and order in the work environment according to five rules: Trier (Seiri); Ranger (Seiton); Cleanse (Seiso); Standardize (Seiketsu) and Respect (Shitsuke).
• The Dynamic Site Installation Plan (PIDC) in the finishing phase : this plan assigns storage areas to each company according to the weight of the materials, the areas required for their storage, according to delivery terms predefined with the suppliers.

Lean Construction at the service of better prevention

Once these bases have been established, the OPPBTP offers all those involved in the site invaluable help to help them take ownership of the Lean Construction approach. For this, the book provides a list of 13 fundamental determinants. Concrete and practical, they cover the chronology of an operation.

The OPPBTP relies on them to provide its vision of the act of building in Lean Construction, with a view to overall performance. This view constitutes a real innovation in the field and makes its application operational by associating the philosophical principles and the tools:

• Design : it addresses the issues of constructive choices, the project strategies, the definitions of the roles of the actors, the Lean implementation on particular problems and the deadlines that the client sets himself to achieve his objectives.
• The Lean Construction repository : it brings together the qualitative and quantitative descriptions and the expectations of the project.
• Lean Construction tools : the approach is adopted gradually and evolves over time by putting in place, as and when, the necessary tools.
• Consultation : this phase should allow the establishment of a climate conducive to exchange and communication
• Preventive / curative balance : this determinant aims to establish the best compromise between preventive and curative, taking into account the characteristics of the site.
• Site environment : this is a very restrictive aspect because it is linked in particular to regulations. It must be the subject of a precise formulation so as not to compromise the site and the safety of persons.
• Quality : consultation and anticipation allow a better balance between price levels and the quality of service delivery.
• Operational modes : better develop and transcribe the different phases necessary for the completion of a project.
• Team Management : create real added value by building expert and involved teams.
• Management : create a new management method capable of transmitting good practices and having them applied.
• Flow management : the study of flow management (vehicles, machinery, incoming and outgoing materials, operators) makes it possible to free up performance and safety margins, and to limit the manual carrying of loads.
• Safety and cleanliness : analysis of the work environment (congestion, difficult access, etc.), physical risk factors (pace of work, awkward postures, physical efforts, etc.) makes it possible to adjust prevention measures in connection with efficient production and balanced.
• Supplier involvement : the industrial processes of suppliers have an impact on construction sites, in particular through the delivery, packaging and sizing methods of vehicles. It is therefore essential to include them in the reflection.

These determinants form a common language between different actors involved throughout the act of construction. They set a number of clearly defined objectives and create a real project dynamic for everyone.

Thanks to its observations, the OPPBTP can now draw many lessons and specify how Lean Construction deployed in a balanced way can effectively help better prevention.

“Thanks to studies carried out on construction sites, we have been able to observe that good flow management has a very strong impact on accidents such as falls from a height and on the same level. Securing these flows by taking into account the movement of men, equipment and materials contributes considerably to reducing accidents in the construction industry. And this is particularly what Lean Construction allows. With these concrete cases, we were able to highlight the positive repercussions of Lean Construction if the determinants are well respected. "
Yves Chassagne, prevention engineer from the OPPBTP

The whole challenge of this work published by the OPPBTP is to allow the different actors to set up a Lean Construction approach to their measure, taking into account their needs, capacities and challenges. And this, in order to ensure that risk situations decrease on construction sites as the principles of Lean Construction are adopted.

The book "Lean Construction: an approach conducive to prevention" is available for download here.