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The area looks tidy — so why does it keep going back?

Score a workspace against each of the five stages with an observation attached to every score, and see when the score is measuring your audit routine rather than the workplace.

5S Audit · control · White Belt · free, no account needed

Use this when

  • A 5S programme scores well and the workplace keeps drifting
  • You need to know which of the five stages to work on next
  • Audit scores are being compared between areas or sites

5S Audit

sandbox
Sort (seiri)

Is anything here that is not needed for the work done in this area? Count what you would have to move to do the job — not what looks untidy.

Attempted once. Nothing holds it in place.
Set in order (seiton)

Does everything needed have a marked place, and can a person new to the area find it without asking? The test is the newcomer, not the person who has worked here for years.

Attempted once. Nothing holds it in place.
Shine (seiso)

Is cleaning revealing problems — leaks, wear, missing parts — or only removing dirt? Shine is an inspection method that happens to leave the place clean.

In place in part of the area, or in place and already drifting.
Standardise (seiketsu)

Is the standard for the first three visible AT the point of use, and current? A folder in the supervisor's office is not a standard anybody works to.

In place throughout, and holds between audits.
Sustain (shitsuke)

Does the condition hold without an audit being announced? What happens on a night shift in week three after a change?

In place, holds, and the area has improved it themselves since it was set up.

Work on this next

Sort (seiri)

Total

11 / 20

Compare with this area last month — never with another area.

score without evidenceSet in order (seiton) has a score and no observation. A number on its own is an impression: it cannot be compared with next month's, and it tells the area nothing about what to change. Write the sentence — what you saw, and where.

score without evidenceSustain (shitsuke) has a score and no observation. A number on its own is an impression: it cannot be compared with next month's, and it tells the area nothing about what to change. Write the sentence — what you saw, and where.

sustain ahead of the restSustain is scored 4 while one of the first three stages is at 1. Sustain keeps the earlier stages in place; it cannot be in better shape than the things it holds. A high Sustain score over weak foundations usually describes a reliable audit routine rather than a workplace that stays that way.

standardise ahead of the basicsStandardise is scored 3 against a first-three low of 1. Standardise documents what Sort, Set and Shine established — a standard for a condition that does not exist is a document, and documenting it does not create it.

How this is calculated

Each stage is scored 0 to 4 — an even scale, so there is no comfortable middle. The total is shown small on purpose: a 5S score compares an area with itself over time, never with another area, because the scale is anchored by what a particular auditor has seen.

  • Every stage is scored, and every score has an observation attached.
  • Sustain is not more than one point ahead of the weakest of Sort, Set and Shine — it holds those in place and cannot be in better shape than the things it holds.
  • Standardise is not far ahead of them either: it documents a condition, and documenting one does not create it.
  • Five identical scores are flagged — that is one impression written five times.

Source: Hirano, H. (1995), 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace; Osada, T. (1991), The 5S’s: Five Keys to a Total Quality Environment.

How this is calculated

Each stage scored 0-4 on an even scale so there is no comfortable middle; total is 0-20 and is explicitly a comparison of an area with itself over time, never between areas. Structural checks: every stage scored and evidenced; Sustain no more than one point above the weakest of Sort, Set and Shine, since it holds those in place; Standardise likewise, since it documents a condition rather than creating one; and five identical scores flagged as one impression written five times.

Source: Hirano, H. (1995), 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace; Osada, T. (1991), The 5S's: Five Keys to a Total Quality Environment.

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