Journal of Obesity & Eating Disorders

How the Kaizen Model helped to determine the health and wellbeing profiles of a predominately overweight and obese male workforce, and to reduce the risk within a large mining services company in Perth, WA?

7^th European Congress on Obesity and Eating Disorder
April 12-13, 2018 Amsterdam, Netherlands

Thomas Graeme Wright, D Cottam and T Maroni

University of Western Australia, Australia

ScientificTracks Abstracts: J Obes Eat Disord

DOI: 10.21767/2471-8203-C1-008

Abstract

A Kaizen has many components and is a Japanese term for continuous improvement. The Kaizen aims to make the business model better. The challenge was applying the Kaizen model to improve the health profile of the overweight and obese workforce. It had not been done before so find out how we created an Australian first. Kaizen is a philosophy and practice that sees improvement in productivity as a gradual and methodical process. It represents change for the better on a regular basis. A Kaizen ensures employee satisfaction, making the job more fulfilling, less tiring and safer. Safety is a keystone of this company yet they have a workforce at great risk. How? The format of the traditional Kaizen model is PDCA. Plan - what to expect Do â�?�? best solution implemented Check- evaluate the solution to the problem Act - make it a standard or change further We will demonstrate how we applied these four key components of the PDCA model to create a unique approach to satisfy the Kaizen and reduce the risk profile of the company. Find out how we identified the one health factor that would drive the improvement and fit one of the key objectives of a Kaizen â�?�? â�?�?eliminating wasteâ�?. When subjected to change, over a period, this factor had to show absolute improvement within the company. Find out how we created a unique set of approaches to track this impact. Building a relationship with a company and its workforce, using a Kaizen Model, challenges our current management practices and approaches in Australia as to how we manage the health, wellbeing and performance of the any workforce. We will demonstrate how this alternative delivery model is particularly relevant for those of us in the business of creating elite workforces and improving their health and performance profiles.

Biography

Thomas Graeme Wright completed his PhD in Weight Management, Hormones and Metabolic Changes from the University of Western Australia. He published five papers on his research during his PhD. He is the Managing Director of Optimum – a consulting company that works with industries to help create elite workforces and improve the performance of all those at work. He has been at the leading edge of health management and particularly obesity and overweight management in Australia for many decades.
Email:gwright@optimumhms.com.au