Academic literature on the topic 'Contributions in philosophy of authenticity'

Technology education was formally introduced into the New Zealand Curriculum Framework in 1993. In 1995, the curriculum document Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum was published, becoming compulsory in schools from Year 1 to 13 in 1999. The development of the curriculum was preceded by the development of a definition and rationale for technology education. The whole curriculum development process involved consultation with many people from a variety of fields. Many learning theories informed the development of the document and these are clearly evident in the philosophy of the curriculum statement and its implementation in the classroom. As with the implementation of anything new, issues have arisen. The nature of authenticity in technology education and the associated implications for the professional development of teachers are issues that need to be addressed.

New debate over the definition and significance of death has arisen in both analytic and continental philosophy. Derrida's work is permeated with the topic, which he claimed was the one most resistant to inquiry. Discussions of it by Naas, Miller and Hägglund have been limited by anthropomorphic approaches. This paper analyzes six of Derrida's contributions to thanatology, which for convenience are called ‘figures’: death as inherent in survivre; as specter; as given or put, as the Marrano's secret; as conjured by the death penalty; and as a nothingness to which we owe ourselves. Considered as efforts toward some constative formulation, each new foray recalls more familiar Derridean touchstones such as différance or trace; each disputes Heideggerian speculations on death as boundary or authenticity. However, these figures' most salient feature is a shift from the constative to the performative mode, which momentarily suggests death's concomitance with speech acts.

The similitude between anxiety and death is the starting point of Paul Tillich's analysis from The Courage To Be, his famous theological and philosophical reply to Martin Heidegger's Being And Time. Not only Tillich and Heidegger are concerned with the connection between anxiety and death but also other proponents of both existentialism and nihilism like Friedrich Nietzsche, Emil Cioran and Lev Shestov. Tillich observes that "anxiety puts frightening masks" over things and perhaps this definition is its finest contribution to the spectacular phenomenology of anxiety. Moreover, Tillich has some illuminating insights about the anxiety of emptiness and meaninglessness, which are important for the history of the existential philosophy. It is interesting how the protestant theologian tries to answer to Heidegger: while the German philosopher asserted that we must avoid fear and we have to embrace anxiety as a route to personal authenticity, Tillich notes that we should transform anxiety into fear, because courage is more likely to "abolish" fear.

Of all the works attributed to Ovid but of disputed authenticity, the epistle of Sappho to Phaon is notoriously the one which has most perplexed scholars. Most philologists at the end of the 19th century asserted the Ovidian paternity of the epistle; but in recent years the discussion has flared up once again, especially following an important contribution, tending in the opposite direction, by R. J. Tarrant, and today, above all in Anglo-American studies, the pendulum seems to be swinging more in the direction of inauthenticity, according to the movement typical in debates of this kind. The present article obviously does not intend to discuss the whole question once again nor to reaffirm tout court the attribution to Ovid, but brings to the attention of scholars certain arguments which should not be neglected in the discussion (and which point in the direction of authenticity). I do not mean to underestimate the linguistic, stylistic, and metrical anomalies which scholars up to Tarrant and beyond have imputed to the epistula Sapphus, but rather to indicate some characteristics, above all of compositional technique, which have not been considered but which I think have a not insignificant weight in the debate on authenticity.

This reflective paper considers how Dr. Ian Yeoman teaches futures studies and scenario planning to tourism students across several undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. It is based on his teaching philosophy of visualization, authenticity, problem-based learning, scaffolding, and his understanding of how students negotiate their own learning. The paper examines the approach taken in three papers, where Yeoman is the primary lecturer. As part of the bachelor of tourism management degree, two papers are taught. TOUR104 is a first-year introductory paper addressing how the drivers and trends in the macro-environment influence tourism from a political, economic, social, technology, and environmental perspective. TOUR301 is a third-year paper that aims to help students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and critically analyze tourism public policy, planning, and processes primarily within New Zealand. TOUR413 is a scenario planning paper, applied in a tourism context and taught to students in postgraduate programs. The contribution this paper makes is in its demonstration of the link between teaching philosophy and student learning, the challenges students encounter with futures thinking in a problem-based learning environment and the evolution of the papers.

AbstractExpatriate blogs are personal websites in which individuals share their experiences of relocation and life in a different country, not solely for the benefit of their readers but also for their own benefit. As such, they constitute sites of identity construction in phases of personal transition, afforded by the linear nature of blogging. This paper illustrates how expatriate bloggers discursively authenticate identity. Drawing on tactics of intersubjectivity, the analysis explores twelve personal blogs by Anglophone foreign nationals who have moved to England. Authentication is achieved, firstly, through displaying expertise pertaining to life abroad. This at the same time legitimizes expatriates’ sharing of the everyday experiences, and indeed they portray themselves as providing deep insights and unadorned accounts. Additionally, identity is authenticated through discourses of personal fulfillment. The authentication of expatriate identity is thus closely linked to bloggers’ legitimizing of their own contributions. These findings add to research on discursive identity construction in personal negotiations of relatively privileged migration. They further make a theoretical contribution to the tactics of intersubjectivity as well as more generally to explorations of identity and authentication in online environments.

ABSTRACT: In this paper, I am interested in the ethics of everyday sexual agency: specifically, in moral questions about when, how, and why we identify ourselves as particular kinds of sexual agents. Given that sexual self-identifications involve a complex combination of individual and social processes, a framework which does justice to these processes would help make room for an analysis of the ethics of sexual self-identification. I introduce the concept of sexual authenticity as useful in these contexts, where such authenticity involves two main aspects: taking up sexual identifications as our ownmost and giving accounts of them to and with others.

This thesis begins the process toward a concept of [authenticity] that is both fragmented and performative. I outline a history in philosophy and performance studies where authenticity has been deployed, and demonstrate how it is often tied to modernist ideologies. I then offer "[authenticity]," with brackets, as a means to allow for this term to challenge these modernist conceptions of the self. I then track the ways in which "[authenticity]" opens the possibilities for a new approach to performing by exploring my performance of the poem, "Hydrangeas."

My interests lie in consideration of conceptions of authenticity and inauthenticity from the perspective of ethical theories which conceive of the good for man with reference to human nature and concomitant beliefs regarding the most appropriate realisation of human capacities. Here, I find particular interest in the philosophical styles embodied by the existentialist and Lebensphilosophie movements. Such approaches sit outside the traditional frames of reference provided by deontological and utilitarian approaches to ethical reasoning and yet do I shall argue, share significant similarities with ancient aretaic styles of ethics. Here, I take Aristotle to represent those aspects of ethical thought which are quintessentially of this period of intellectual history. I find not merely points of comparison but a fruitful way in which to re-examine the thought of thinkers such as Nietzsche, Scheler, Heidegger and Sartre with reference to styles of ethical enquiry which place primacy upon an objective conception of happiness which centres upon the appropriate realisation of human capacity understood with reference to Aristotle's Function Argument. I argue that phenomenological analysis shares a conception of self-perspicuity in which the agent reflects upon the full contents of their conscious experience. By this means, certain self-delusions which impede entry into the ethical life, may be removed. Additionally, whilst Aristotle's 'non-law' conception of ethics shares with existentialist thought an understanding of the human situation and its normative concerns in isolation from dualistic and theistic metaphysical speculation, such philosophy is still able to provide clear and objective ethical standards - standards often lacking within existentialism. For instance, whilst Nietzsche's pronouncement of the 'death of God' signals the death also of Christian morality, we find that such philosophy is not without normative implications and in fact can be derived to a large degree from assent towards a radical and more severe ethical self-discipline. Indeed, central certainly to the thought of Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre is an understanding of the role of self-deception in the human condition. Here a useful distinction may be made between those types of self-deception which may be understood as structural that is to say which are representative of an essential characteristic of human being at the abstract level - and those types of self-deception which may be described as 'motivated' or 'psychological' which relate to more specific types of self-deceptive engagement. I believe it is useful to examine both Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre through the lens of such interpretation, I find for instance that it is of use to examine the early Sartre as having a purely structural interpretation of bad faith (described by Jeanson as 'natural' bad-faith) whilst moving towards a psychological account in his later work, an account which has more specific moral implications with the possibility of 'willed conversion' to authenticity (Santoni). Additionally with Nietzsche, we also find a similar distinction between a self-deception which is in some sense preconditional and a motivational account of self-deception in which the agent infused with ressentiment falsifies reality in favour of subjective needs which are ultimately destructive of life-enhancement. In this sense the vicious individual can be said to have achieved merely a false optimum, and moreover, false from an objective standpoint.

The purpose of this thesis is to address the question, "Is Peer Counselling a way of fostering or promoting the existential notion of authenticity?" The intention of Peer Counselling is to improve the psychological health and well being of its participants (both counsellors and counsellees) through peer intervention and education. Peer Counselling training is a curriculum and method wherein students are taught to listen to and help in the choice-making process of their peers. Peer Counselling, both training and outreach interaction, encourages the development of positive identity and responsible independence as individuals exercise more control over their experiences. It seeks to create opportunities to learn how to actively and intentionally use experiences to gain new levels of confidence and competence. A process oriented, experiential training approach, it ensures the content is relevant to the learner. The self-directed attitude and approach of peer counselling encourages counsellors and counsellees alike to become active participants in their own development, in their own life choices. The acquisition of interpersonal communication skills such as empathic listening, facilitative questioning, decision making and values clarification may aid both counsellor and counsellee in a movement towards the existential notion of authenticity. Authenticity includes such characteristics and qualities as: genuineness in 'good faith'; autonomy; discovery of one's 'care structure'; creative choice making; critical examination of societally imposed norms; radical responsibility for the conditions and perspectives of one's life; and an openness to the dynamic nature of one's unique being. Re-constructions of peer counselling interactions provide opportunity to examine the theoretical possiblities for peer counselling to promote authenticity. Finally the implications of merging this curriculum with the philosophical notion of authenticity is examined in the light of actual classroom experience. Implications for pedagogy are discussed.
vi, 129 leaves ; 29 cm.

This dissertation focuses on the concept of authenticity and its implications for our projects of self-creation, particularly those involving the use of "enhancement technologies" (such as stimulant drugs, "mood brighteners", or brain stimulation). After an introduction to the concept of authenticity and the enhancement debate in the first part of the thesis, part 2 considers the main analyses of authenticity in the contemporary philosophical literature. It begins with those emphasizing self-creation, and shows that, despite their merits, such views cannot adequately deal with certain types of cases, which require a third option, “true self” accounts, emphasizing self-discovery. However, it is argued that in their existing versions, accounts of this third sort are also unsatisfactory. Part 3 of the thesis proposes a new account of the "true self" sort, intended to improve upon existing ones. Common problematic assumptions about the concept of the true self are critiqued, after which a new analysis of that concept is presented, based on seven different conditions. Two specific definitions of authenticity, respectively emphasizing self-expression and the preservation of one's true self, are provided, and its relation to various associated notions, such as integrity or sincerity, are examined. Finally, part 4 looks at the implications of the previous parts for the enhancement debate. In particular, it discusses the prospect of technologically enhancing our personality and mood dispositions. Do such interventions always threaten our authenticity, as some worry? A negative answer is provided to that question. Various potential pitfalls hinted at by the inauthenticity worry are discussed and acknowledged. It is, however, argued that such enhancements could still in principle be used in a fully authentic manner, and that they have the potential to bring about genuine improvements in our mood but also to our moral capacities and our affective rationality more generally.

The elaboration of a Sartrean ethics based upon Sartre' s ontological treatise Being and Nothingness has been, and still is, a much debated and controversial issue. Some critics have forcefully denied that an ethical position can be derived from the notions of freedom and value which are set forth by Sartre in his early ontology, on the ground that any attempt at such an ethics ensues in an extreme subjectivism, irrationalism, and, ultimately, nihilism. Other scholars, more sympathetic to Sartre's early philosophy, have attempted to construct a Sartrean ethical theory, but some unresolved issues still emerge from their readings. My aim in this dissertation is to defend Sartre's ontology against the former kind of criticisms, and to highlight and resolve what is left insufficiently analysed by the second group of scholars. I will attempt to show, by proposing an original interpretation of a Sartrean ethics, that Sartre's early ontology provides the ground for a viable ethics and that the problems of subjectivism and nihilism find their resolution within Sartre's ontological claims. I begin by investigating Sartre's philosophical background and show how his use of HusserI's phenomenology is fundamental in order to grasp the full meaning and implications of Sartre' s ontological descriptions. I then analyse closely Sartre's notion of subjectivity, which provides the key to the elaboration of an ethics grounded in Being and Nothingness. The pivotal idea of my interpretation is the distinction between, and inter-relation of, two levels of discourse, namely, the metaempiricaIJontological and the empirical/ontic, in terms of which Sartre's claims on subjectivity and freedom, which are at the basis of his ethics, must be understood. If this perspective is maintained, I argue, then it is possible to recognize both the universalistic and the situated! concrete aspects of the ethics of authenticity.

Currently the most influential accounts of personal autonomy, at least in the Englishspeaking world, focus on providing conditions under which agents can be said to exercise self-control. Two distinct accounts of personal autonomy have emerged in this tradition: firstly, hierarchical models grounded in the work of Harry Frankfurt; and secondly, systems division models most famously articulated by Gary Watson. In this thesis I show the inadequacies of both of these models by exploring the problematic views of the self and self-control underlying each model. I will suggest that the problems faced by these models stem from the fact that they endorse a problematic fragmentation of the self. I suggest that a Nietzschean account of personal autonomy is able to avoid these problems. The Nietzschean account can largely, I show, be drawn from Nietzsche’s understanding of both the ‘man of ressentiment’ and his opposite, the sovereign individual. On this picture wholeness of self – rather than fragmentation of the self – is required in order for us to be most fully autonomous. Furthermore, this wholeness of self requires the kind of integrity which is opposed to the problematic fragmentation endorsed by Frankfurt and Watson.

In 1992 Interim Guidance Notes were issued in the UK to provide guidance for the design of offshore topsides for fires and explosions. This Guidance was one consequence of the Piper Alpha Tragedy in the North Sea. Since 1992 a great deal of further research and technology has been developed in order to improve understanding of the characteristics of fires and explosions and the response of the structures and equipment to these events. In order to collate this new information in a readily useable format, the United Kingdom Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commissioned the MSL Consortium to update the existing Interim Guidance Notes and produce Part 1 of the new Guidance. The MSL Consortium consisted of the organisations represented by the authors with contributions from WS Atkins (Houston) and Beth Morgan Safety Solutions. The project manager was Minaz Lalani of MSL. The new Guidance is being developed in three parts. The first two parts deal with the philosophy for the avoidance and mitigation of explosions and fires respectively, which together establish the background for Part 3 which will provide detailed guidance on design practices for fire and explosion engineering. This paper describes the first document. Specific issues which are discussed include installation risk screening, nominal explosion loads, inherently safer design, hazard management, and the derivation of Design Explosion loads. This paper also describes the recommended method for explosion response assessment given in the Guidance.

Aim/Purpose: Given the underlying philosophy of the agile manifesto, this study investigates whether an increase in agile maturity is associated with improved perceived project success. Background: The underlying philosophy of the agile manifesto is embodied in principle one which promotes the continuous delivery of software that is deemed valuable by the customer, while principle twelve encourages continual improvement of the delivery process. This constant improvement, or maturity, is not a concept unique to agile methods and is commonly referred to as a maturity model. The most common of maturity model is the Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI). However, research consensus indicates CMMI might not fully be compatible with agile implementation, specifically at higher levels of maturity without sacrificing agility. Agile maturity models (AMM), which are aligned to agile principles encourage continuous improvement while maintaining agility. Methodology: The study employs a conceptual model based on an existing agile maturity model that is related to perceived project success. Using an objectivist perspective, a quantitative method was employed to analyze the results of an online survey of agile practitioners. Contribution: The significant contribution from this research is the validation of the conceptual model relating the activities and maturity levels of the AMM as the independent variables to the dependent variable of perceived project success. Findings: The data analysis found that a significant positive correlation exists between maturity levels and perceived project success. The strongest correlation was found at the highest maturity level, with relatively weaker correlation at the lower levels of maturity. It can thus be concluded that a higher level of maturity in the AMM is positively associated with perceived project success. Recommendations for Practitioners: The study has practical implications in highlighting that performance management, requirements management, regular delivery and customer availability are key areas to focus on to establish and continually improve the success of agile implementations. This study further assists practitioners in systematically identifying the critical agile activities, such as the use of story cards, continuous delivery and the presence of a knowledgeable customer. Recommendation for Researchers: The contributions of this study for academics is the confirmation of the maturity model developed by Patel and Ramachandran (2009a). This study also shows the association between the individual activities within the maturity levels as well as the maturity levels and the perceived project success, addressing a gap in literature relating these concepts. Future Research: It would be useful to replicate this study whilst following a qualitative approach. The study could also be replicated with a sample consisting of agile project customers.

Traditionally, a key component of the design philosophy applied to high-pressure pipelines has been the stipulation that the nominal hoop stress is less than some fraction of the specified minimum yield strength (SMYS). However, more recently both designers and operators have recognised that whilst this approach generally leads to conservatively safe designs, there may be some situations in which the conservatism is not adequate. This has resulted in a move towards limit state, and structural reliability based, methods that address actual failure modes, and consequently the contributions to structural integrity of other factors in addition to stress. One such failure mode is the puncture of a pipeline wall due an external force. This situation can arise from the impact of excavating machinery for onshore pipelines or drop objects and anchors for offshore lines. A limit state function describing this failure mode is given in DNV guidelines No 13. However, this function does not take account of the internal pressure. In this paper the influence of pressure on the pipeline indentation is addressed using both theoretical and finite element analyses. A closed-form solution of force-deformation relationship based on a consideration of rigid-plastic deformation theory, that gives a good agreement with results from both FE analyses and experimental tests, is presented. The analytical results show that indentation force, and the maximum stress/strain, required to produce a given dent depth, increase with increasing internal pressure. However, the relationship between indentation force and maximum stress/strain is not sensitive to internal pressure. The analysis therefore shows that an indentation force criterion governed solely by the dent depth, such as that given in DNV guidelines No. 13, may be highly unconservative when the pressure in the pipeline is high. Consequently, a new local denting criterion for puncture of pressurised pipes, which is based the maximum acceptable strain of the pipe material, and thereby removes the above unconservatsim, has been proposed and is presented in this paper.

Abstract Deepwater development in Gulf of Mexico (GoM) started about two decades ago. It is the time to evaluate the global integrity of the offshore production unit and riser system and explore the possibility of life extension. This paper investigates life extension of deepwater risers used for a spar application in GoM. A spar in GoM has been put into service for the past 17 years since it was installed in 2000. It was expected to extend the riser design life of 20 years by 10 more years. This paper first introduces the configuration of Steel Catenary Risers (SCRs) and Top Tensioned Risers (TTRs) used for the Spar platform. It then discusses the philosophy for life extension of deepwater risers by assessing the integrity of the riser system. Latest technology and monitored data are used for the assessment. The TTRs and SCRs are modelled using latest analysis programs that were not readily available when the risers were designed. The interaction between the TTR and buoyancy can tensioning system is modelled as a pipe-in-pipe system that considers the function of centralizers with a gap size. The contact interaction between buoyancy can / stem and supporting guides of the hull platform is modelled as non-linear spring elements. The spring elements connect normally to the hull centerline and allow vertical sliding movement of the buoyancy can tension / stem system with friction. The base line inspections of the vessel, SCRs, and TTRs was carried out in the same inspection campaign with the spar hull structure. As-built information, production and operational data was also used for a continuous service assessment. Environmental condition data to the state of the art, including measured spar VIM data, was used in the assessment of VIM fatigue damage to the risers. The investigation was based on the up-to-date analytical tools including latest FEA program ABAQUS and VIV prediction Shear7. It further computes the riser global performance including dynamic strength and fatigue damage with the contributions from wave fatigue, VIV and VIM. This paper finally draws a conclusion for the life extension of the risers for the application in GoM.

Attention to safety and health are of ever-increasing priority to industrial organizations. Good Safety is demanded by stockholders, employees, and the community while increasing injury costs provide additional motivation for safety and health excellence. Safety has always been a strong corporate value of DuPont and a vital part of its culture. As a result, DuPont has become a benchmark in safety and health performance. Since 1990, DuPont has re-engineered itself to meet global competition and address future vision. In the new re-engineered organizational structures, DuPont has also had to re-engineer its safety management systems. A special Discovery Team was chartered by DuPont senior management to determine the “best practices’ for safety and health being used in DuPont best-performing sites. A summary of the findings is presented, and five of the practices are discussed. Excellence in safety and health management is more important today than ever. Public awareness, federal and state regulations, and enlightened management have resulted in a widespread conviction that all employees have the right to work in an environment that will not adversely affect their safety and health. In DuPont, we believe that excellence in safety and health is necessary to achieve global competitiveness, maintain employee loyalty, and be an accepted member of the communities in which we make, handle, use, and transport products. Safety can also be the “catalyst” to achieving excellence in other important business parameters. The organizational and communication skills developed by management, individuals, and teams in safety can be directly applied to other company initiatives. As we look into the 21st Century, we must also recognize that new organizational structures (flatter with empowered teams) will require new safety management techniques and systems in order to maintain continuous improvement in safety performance. Injury costs, which have risen dramatically in the past twenty years, provide another incentive for safety and health excellence. Shown in the Figure 1, injury costs have increased even after correcting for inflation. Many companies have found these costs to be an “invisible drain” on earnings and profitability. In some organizations, significant initiatives have been launched to better manage the workers’ compensation systems. We have found that the ultimate solution is to prevent injuries and incidents before they occur. A globally-respected company, DuPont is regarded as a well-managed, extremely ethical firm that is the benchmark in industrial safety performance. Like many other companies, DuPont has re-engineered itself and downsized its operations since 1985. Through these changes, we have maintained dedication to our principles and developed new techniques to manage in these organizational environments. As a diversified company, our operations involve chemical process facilities, production line operations, field activities, and sales and distribution of materials. Our customer base is almost entirely industrial and yet we still maintain a high level of consumer awareness and positive perception. The DuPont concern for safety dates back to the early 1800s and the first days of the company. In 1802 E.I. DuPont, a Frenchman, began manufacturing quality grade explosives to fill America’s growing need to build roads, clear fields, increase mining output, and protect its recently won independence. Because explosives production is such a hazardous industry, DuPont recognized and accepted the need for an effective safety effort. The building walls of the first powder mill near Wilmington, Delaware, were built three stones thick on three sides. The back remained open to the Brandywine River to direct any explosive forces away from other buildings and employees. To set the safety example, DuPont also built his home and the homes of his managers next to the powder yard. An effective safety program was a necessity. It represented the first defense against instant corporate liquidation. Safety needs more than a well-designed plant, however. In 1811, work rules were posted in the mill to guide employee work habits. Though not nearly as sophisticated as the safety standards of today, they did introduce an important basic concept — that safety must be a line management responsibility. Later, DuPont introduced an employee health program and hired a company doctor. An early step taken in 1912 was the keeping of safety statistics, approximately 60 years before the federal requirement to do so. We had a visible measure of our safety performance and were determined that we were going to improve it. When the nation entered World War I, the DuPont Company supplied 40 percent of the explosives used by the Allied Forces, more than 1.5 billion pounds. To accomplish this task, over 30,000 new employees were hired and trained to build and operate many plants. Among these facilities was the largest smokeless powder plant the world had ever seen. The new plant was producing granulated powder in a record 116 days after ground breaking. The trends on the safety performance chart reflect the problems that a large new work force can pose until the employees fully accept the company’s safety philosophy. The first arrow reflects the World War I scale-up, and the second arrow represents rapid diversification into new businesses during the 1920s. These instances of significant deterioration in safety performance reinforced DuPont’s commitment to reduce the unsafe acts that were causing 96 percent of our injuries. Only 4 percent of injuries result from unsafe conditions or equipment — the remainder result from the unsafe acts of people. This is an important concept if we are to focus our attention on reducing injuries and incidents within the work environment. World War II brought on a similar set of demands. The story was similar to World War I but the numbers were even more astonishing: one billion dollars in capital expenditures, 54 new plants, 75,000 additional employees, and 4.5 billion pounds of explosives produced — 20 percent of the volume used by the Allied Forces. Yet, the performance during the war years showed no significant deviation from the pre-war years. In 1941, the DuPont Company was 10 times safer than all industry and 9 times safer than the Chemical Industry. Management and the line organization were finally working as they should to control the real causes of injuries. Today, DuPont is about 50 times safer than US industrial safety performance averages. Comparing performance to other industries, it is interesting to note that seemingly “hazard-free” industries seem to have extraordinarily high injury rates. This is because, as DuPont has found out, performance is a function of injury prevention and safety management systems, not hazard exposure. Our success in safety results from a sound safety management philosophy. Each of the 125 DuPont facilities is responsible for its own safety program, progress, and performance. However, management at each of these facilities approaches safety from the same fundamental and sound philosophy. This philosophy can be expressed in eleven straightforward principles. The first principle is that all injuries can be prevented. That statement may seem a bit optimistic. In fact, we believe that this is a realistic goal and not just a theoretical objective. Our safety performance proves that the objective is achievable. We have plants with over 2,000 employees that have operated for over 10 years without a lost time injury. As injuries and incidents are investigated, we can always identify actions that could have prevented that incident. If we manage safety in a proactive — rather than reactive — manner, we will eliminate injuries by reducing the acts and conditions that cause them. The second principle is that management, which includes all levels through first-line supervisors, is responsible and accountable for preventing injuries. Only when senior management exerts sustained and consistent leadership in establishing safety goals, demanding accountability for safety performance and providing the necessary resources, can a safety program be effective in an industrial environment. The third principle states that, while recognizing management responsibility, it takes the combined energy of the entire organization to reach sustained, continuous improvement in safety and health performance. Creating an environment in which employees feel ownership for the safety effort and make significant contributions is an essential task for management, and one that needs deliberate and ongoing attention. The fourth principle is a corollary to the first principle that all injuries are preventable. It holds that all operating exposures that may result in injuries or illnesses can be controlled. No matter what the exposure, an effective safeguard can be provided. It is preferable, of course, to eliminate sources of danger, but when this is not reasonable or practical, supervision must specify measures such as special training, safety devices, and protective clothing. Our fifth safety principle states that safety is a condition of employment. Conscientious assumption of safety responsibility is required from all employees from their first day on the job. Each employee must be convinced that he or she has a responsibility for working safely. The sixth safety principle: Employees must be trained to work safely. We have found that an awareness for safety does not come naturally and that people have to be trained to work safely. With effective training programs to teach, motivate, and sustain safety knowledge, all injuries and illnesses can be eliminated. Our seventh principle holds that management must audit performance on the workplace to assess safety program success. Comprehensive inspections of both facilities and programs not only confirm their effectiveness in achieving the desired performance, but also detect specific problems and help to identify weaknesses in the safety effort. The Company’s eighth principle states that all deficiencies must be corrected promptly. Without prompt action, risk of injuries will increase and, even more important, the credibility of management’s safety efforts will suffer. Our ninth principle is a statement that off-the-job safety is an important part of the overall safety effort. We do not expect nor want employees to “turn safety on” as they come to work and “turn it off” when they go home. The company safety culture truly becomes of the individual employee’s way of thinking. The tenth principle recognizes that it’s good business to prevent injuries. Injuries cost money. However, hidden or indirect costs usually exceed the direct cost. Our last principle is the most important. Safety must be integrated as core business and personal value. There are two reasons for this. First, we’ve learned from almost 200 years of experience that 96 percent of safety incidents are directly caused by the action of people, not by faulty equipment or inadequate safety standards. But conversely, it is our people who provide the solutions to our safety problems. They are the one essential ingredient in the recipe for a safe workplace. Intelligent, trained, and motivated employees are any company’s greatest resource. Our success in safety depends upon the men and women in our plants following procedures, participating actively in training, and identifying and alerting each other and management to potential hazards. By demonstrating a real concern for each employee, management helps establish a mutual respect, and the foundation is laid for a solid safety program. This, of course, is also the foundation for good employee relations. An important lesson learned in DuPont is that the majority of injuries are caused by unsafe acts and at-risk behaviors rather than unsafe equipment or conditions. In fact, in several DuPont studies it was estimated that 96 percent of injuries are caused by unsafe acts. This was particularly revealing when considering safety audits — if audits were only focused on conditions, at best we could only prevent four percent of our injuries. By establishing management systems for safety auditing that focus on people, including audit training, techniques, and plans, all incidents are preventable. Of course, employee contribution and involvement in auditing leads to sustainability through stakeholdership in the system. Management safety audits help to make manage the “behavioral balance.” Every job and task performed at a site can do be done at-risk or safely. The essence of a good safety system ensures that safe behavior is the accepted norm amongst employees, and that it is the expected and respected way of doing things. Shifting employees norms contributes mightily to changing culture. The management safety audit provides a way to quantify these norms. DuPont safety performance has continued to improve since we began keeping records in 1911 until about 1990. In the 1990–1994 time frame, performance deteriorated as shown in the chart that follows: This increase in injuries caused great concern to senior DuPont management as well as employees. It occurred while the corporation was undergoing changes in organization. In order to sustain our technological, competitive, and business leadership positions, DuPont began re-engineering itself beginning in about 1990. New streamlined organizational structures and collaborative work processes eliminated many positions and levels of management and supervision. The total employment of the company was reduced about 25 percent during these four years. In our traditional hierarchical organization structures, every level of supervision and management knew exactly what they were expected to do with safety, and all had important roles. As many of these levels were eliminated, new systems needed to be identified for these new organizations. In early 1995, Edgar S. Woolard, DuPont Chairman, chartered a Corporate Discovery Team to look for processes that will put DuPont on a consistent path toward a goal of zero injuries and occupational illnesses. The cross-functional team used a mode of “discovery through learning” from as many DuPont employees and sites around the world. The Discovery Team fostered the rapid sharing and leveraging of “best practices” and innovative approaches being pursued at DuPont’s plants, field sites, laboratories, and office locations. In short, the team examined the company’s current state, described the future state, identified barriers between the two, and recommended key ways to overcome these barriers. After reporting back to executive management in April, 1995, the Discovery Team was realigned to help organizations implement their recommendations. The Discovery Team reconfirmed key values in DuPont — in short, that all injuries, incidents, and occupational illnesses are preventable and that safety is a source of competitive advantage. As such, the steps taken to improve safety performance also improve overall competitiveness. Senior management made this belief clear: “We will strengthen our business by making safety excellence an integral part of all business activities.” One of the key findings of the Discovery Team was the identification of the best practices used within the company, which are listed below: ▪ Felt Leadership – Management Commitment ▪ Business Integration ▪ Responsibility and Accountability ▪ Individual/Team Involvement and Influence ▪ Contractor Safety ▪ Metrics and Measurements ▪ Communications ▪ Rewards and Recognition ▪ Caring Interdependent Culture; Team-Based Work Process and Systems ▪ Performance Standards and Operating Discipline ▪ Training/Capability ▪ Technology ▪ Safety and Health Resources ▪ Management and Team Audits ▪ Deviation Investigation ▪ Risk Management and Emergency Response ▪ Process Safety ▪ Off-the-Job Safety and Health Education Attention to each of these best practices is essential to achieve sustained improvements in safety and health. The Discovery Implementation in conjunction with DuPont Safety and Environmental Management Services has developed a Safety Self-Assessment around these systems. In this presentation, we will discuss a few of these practices and learn what they mean. Paper published with permission.