Gemba Walk Daily Round

Daily leadership Gemba walk inspection covering safety, quality, delivery, cost, morale, and visual board status.

Safety

• Walkway, aisle, and egress paths are clear and unobstructed
  Verify primary travel paths, exits, and access to emergency equipment are free of stored materials, cords, spills, and trip hazards.
• Required PPE is worn in the observed area
  Confirm employees and visitors are using task-appropriate PPE such as eye protection, hearing protection, gloves, or high-visibility apparel as required.
• Machine guards, interlocks, and safe operating controls are in place
  Check exposed pinch points, missing guards, bypassed interlocks, and unsafe machine conditions visible during the walk.
• Electrical panels, cords, and temporary power connections are in safe condition
  Look for open panels, damaged cords, overloaded outlets, exposed conductors, or unsafe temporary wiring.
• Fire extinguishers, alarms, and emergency equipment are accessible and not expired
  Confirm extinguishers are mounted, visible, in their designated location, and that emergency equipment is not blocked.
• Housekeeping conditions do not present a slip, trip, or contamination hazard
  Check for spills, debris, excessive dust, leaking fluids, or waste accumulation that could affect safe work or product quality.
• Any observed safety deficiency has been escalated to the responsible owner
  Document whether hazards were assigned, contained, or escalated according to the site escalation process.

Quality

• Workstation output matches the current standard work and quality criteria
  Confirm operators are following the current method and that visible work instructions match the process being performed.
• Defects, rework, or scrap are identified and contained
  Check whether non-conforming material is clearly labeled, segregated, and dispositioned per procedure.
• First-pass quality checks are being completed at the required frequency
  Verify in-process checks, layered process audits, or verification steps are being performed as scheduled.
• Measurement and inspection tools are available and within calibration status
  Confirm required gauges, scales, or inspection tools are present and show current calibration or verification status.
• Process abnormalities or customer-impacting issues are visible and understood
  Check whether recent defects, complaints, or process deviations are posted and being actively addressed.
• Quality containment actions are current and effective
  Verify temporary controls, hold tags, or inspection containment actions are in place where needed.

Delivery

• Current production or service plan is posted and understood
  Confirm the team can see the current target, priority, and sequence for the shift or day.
• Actual output is tracking to plan
  Compare current performance against the posted target and note any gap or recovery plan.
• Material, parts, and consumables are available for the next planned work
  Check whether shortages, missing kits, or late deliveries could interrupt flow in the next interval.
• Bottlenecks, downtime, or waiting time are identified
  Document the primary constraint affecting throughput, including equipment downtime, staffing gaps, or upstream delays.
• Escalation path is clear for delivery risks
  Confirm the team knows who to contact when schedule risk, shortages, or equipment issues threaten delivery.
• On-time completion risk is within acceptable tolerance
  Record whether the area is on track, at risk, or behind, based on the current day plan.

Cost

• Visible waste is being identified and removed
  Look for excess motion, waiting, overproduction, unnecessary transport, or duplicate handling.
• Rework, scrap, or damage is trending within target
  Check whether visible scrap, damage, or rework is above the expected daily level.
• Energy, compressed air, water, or consumable waste is controlled
  Observe whether equipment or processes are leaking, idling, or otherwise consuming resources unnecessarily.
• Preventive maintenance or housekeeping gaps are creating avoidable cost
  Check for conditions that could lead to breakdowns, quality loss, or repeat labor.
• Top cost driver observed during the walk
  Capture the most significant visible cost issue found during the round.
• Immediate cost-saving action assigned
  Record whether a practical action was assigned to reduce waste or prevent recurrence.

Morale and Engagement

• Team members appear engaged and aware of priorities
  Observe whether employees can explain current priorities, blockers, and expected outputs.
• Workload and staffing appear balanced for the current demand
  Check for signs of overload, understaffing, or uneven task distribution that could affect morale or performance.
• Employees have access to support for issues raised during the walk
  Confirm concerns are being heard and routed to the correct owner without delay.
• Recognition or positive feedback was provided
  Record whether the leader acknowledged good performance, improvement, or safe behavior.
• Morale concerns or employee feedback
  Capture any concerns, suggestions, or observations shared by the team.

Visual Board and Action Tracking

• Safety, quality, delivery, cost, and morale metrics are posted and current
  Confirm the board reflects the latest available daily or shift data for the core performance categories.
• Action items have clear owners and due dates
  Check that open actions are assigned to a responsible person with a target completion date.
• Overdue actions are visibly escalated
  Verify overdue items are highlighted and have an escalation path or recovery plan.
• Board reflects the current top issues and countermeasures
  Confirm the board shows the most important problems, root causes, and countermeasures rather than stale information.
• Next follow-up date
  Record the planned date for the next review or follow-up on open actions.
• Overall leadership round summary
  Summarize the key observations, risks, and commitments from the walk.