Academic literature on the topic 'Large women's clothing'

A field experiment explored whether a female shopper's appearance would influence the customer service she received. Specifically, a female confederate dressed in formal work clothes (skirt and blouse) or informal gym clothes (tights and t-shirt) entered a series of randomly selected women's clothing stores in a large mall and proceeded to “shop.” The amount of time that passed before an employee approached and acknowledged the confederate served as the dependent variable. As hypothesized, she was acknowledged significantly sooner when formally attired than when informally dressed. Thus, clothing, like other aspects of appearance, influences how people are evaluated and treated by others.

Seventy-one large-size women (Size 16 and over) participated in an assessment of their clothing interest, satisfactions, and dissatisfactions with ready-to-wear apparel for six types of apparel and seven factors such as color, fabric, fashion, fit, selection, size, and style. Analysis showed that the respondents were satisfied with five of the six apparel categories. However, opinion regarding satisfaction differed by size and age. Fit and size were the most common problem areas. Satisfaction and problems were associated with specific articles of apparel. Several implications were discussed.

The process of the development of new fashion clothing requires all actors in the process to invest tremendous effort in order for the right model to reach its customer at the right time and in the right place. Although the textile and leather processing industry in Serbia employs large number of people, little attention has been paid to fashion marketing, thus it is the subject of this paper as regards the process of the development of fashion products with reference to participation of women in this process, with the aim of presenting characteristics and specificities of the said, along with the results of the secondary research in relation to the subject mentioned.

SummaryFor decades after the socialist revolution, people in rural China continued to wear homespun cloth, and millions of rural women continued to spend a large part of their waking hours producing cloth and clothing. This is puzzling because the state opposed manual cloth production as wasteful of labor and raw materials, and because state monopolies should have ensured that all cotton ended up in the hands of the state and that all rural people were supplied with rationed machine-made cloth. This article looks at the reasons for the long survival of handloom cloth. These include the ways in which manual cloth production was integrated with rural gender norms and with a gift economy that prescribed the exchange of cloth at major life cycle events, and the existence of interlocking scarcities (of grain, cash, cotton, and cloth) that forced rural people to sell their cloth rations and make their own cloth from whatever cotton they could scrape together.

Elisabeth Özdalga's book is an important introduction to one of the issues that has been front-page news in Turkey since the 1980s. The most visible and controversial sign of the increasing participation in public discourse of Islamic revivalists has been the marked increase in numbers of women in urban spaces and institutions who wear the particular form of dress called tessetür, a public symbol of a personal commitment to a certain form of Islamic values. Özdalga's focus is timely and of interest to both a Turkish audience and a Western one, although it speaks mainly to the latter. The banning of the Islamist Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) from Turkish politics since the publication of the book, as well as the internationally noted furor surrounding the election to, and subsequent dismissal of, a headscarf-wearing woman in Parliament, show that what the author calls Turkey's “large-scale attempt to integrate Islam within the institutions of a modern, liberal democratic polity” (p. viii) continues to be a vitally important and controversial subject. Her book attends both to the symbolic power and legal status of women's clothing in public debate and to women's actual participation in the re-formations of public and private definitions of citizenship.

In the fashion industry, demand forecasting is particularly complex: companies operate with a large variety of short lifecycle products, deeply influenced by seasonal sales, promotional events, weather conditions, advertising and marketing campaigns, on top of festivities and socio-economic factors. At the same time, shelf-out-of-stock phenomena must be avoided at all costs. Given the strong seasonal nature of the products that characterize the fashion sector, this paper aims to highlight how the Fourier method can represent an easy and more effective forecasting method compared to other widespread heuristics normally used. For this purpose, a comparison between the fast Fourier transform algorithm and another two techniques based on moving average and exponential smoothing was carried out on a set of 4-year historical sales data of a €60+ million turnover medium- to large-sized Italian fashion company, which operates in the women's textiles apparel and clothing sectors. The entire analysis was performed on a common spreadsheet, in order to demonstrate that accurate results exploiting advanced numerical computation techniques can be carried out without necessarily using expensive software.

PurposeThis paper explores fashion availability, fit and affordability in the UK stores especially for those women who wear size 16 and over; and examines their satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the retail experience.Design/methodology/approachThe satisfaction of customer needs remains a fundamental tenet of marketing theory, research and application. This survey was an exploratory study into satisfaction/dissatisfaction with the fashion provision and shopping environments for women in the UK. A questionnaire solicited the views of 250 women thereby enabling the researchers to gauge consumers' views on sizing, fit and fashion availability, perception of current offers, pricing and shopping environments.FindingsA large percentage of females, particularly those who wear size 16 and over, are dissatisfied with retail environments, fashion and sizing provision among major UK market players. While most women shopped from the high street and department stores, the larger woman had great difficulty in finding well‐fitting fashionable clothing in general, and with certain categories being most problematic. Respondents' views would appear to contradict previously accepted wisdom that clothing consumption activity is leisure and pleasure orientated; many negative experiences prevailed leaving them unhappy and disenfranchised.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings presented are the views of women's experiences in one city in the UK. Future research could include a wider sample from more cities.Practical implicationsMarketers should be aware of the need for affordable fashions for larger women. Lack of appropriate sizes is a major source of dissatisfaction. This creates negative emotions in terms of: merchandise choice, visual merchandising, store environment, sales personnel attitude, pricing policies and promotional activities. These factors are the very foundations of consumer satisfaction and the evidence of consumer dissatisfaction resulting in avoidance behaviour should be particularly worrying for retailers, given that they are operating in an increasingly competitive and saturated fashion environment.Originality/valueThis paper provides an initial indication of what creates consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction about fashion, fit, affordability and retail environments in the UK particularly among larger women. This paper shows areas of specific concern for marketers.

AbstractThe study explores the role of clothing in the constitution of embodied masculinity in age, contrasting its results with an earlier study of women. It draws four main conclusions. First that men's responses to dress were marked by continuity both with their younger selves and with mainstream masculinity, of which they still felt themselves to be part. Age was less a point of challenge or change than for many women. Second, men's responses were less affected by cultural codes in relation to age. Dress was not, by and large, seen through the lens of age; and there was not the sense of cultural exile that had marked many of the women's responses. Third, for some older men dress could be part of wider moral engagement, expressive of values linked positively to age, embodying old-fashioned values that endorsed their continuing value as older men. Lastly, dress in age reveals some of the ways in which men retain aspects of earlier gender privilege. The study was based on qualitative interviews with 24 men aged 58–85, selected to display a range in terms of social class, occupation, sexuality, employment and relationship status. It forms part of the wider intellectual movement of cultural gerontology that aims to expand the contexts in which we explore later years; and contributes to a new focus on materiality within sociology.

All over the world prostitution is linked to poverty and the responsibility for aged parents and large families. Women who have little or no education and who lack job skills fall into prostitution because they see no other alternative. Social rehabilitation of sex workers should be the priority of government programs like the one described by Tabibul Islam in Contemporary Women's Issues (Rights-Bangladesh: New Attempt to Rehabilitate Sex Workers, from Global Information Network 1999). In various parts of the world there are NGOs (non-governmental organizations) involved in health developmental issues and the prevention of AIDS, and some are offering rehabilitation programs for sex workers. For example in Bamako, Thailand, India, Haiti, and Viet Nam, some NGOs are educating sex workers about the risks of Sexually Transmiitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS and promoting job programs along with training classes in sewing, cooking and secretarial skills. Others are involved in the development of small businesses so that sex workers become economically independent from the sex industry (see Women, Poverty and AIDS: Sex, Drugs and Structural Violence. Edited by Farmer, Paul, Margaret Connors Margaret, and Jane Simmons. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press. 1996). This paper examines a project implemented in 1993 and 1997 in Antananarivo (Madagascar) for the purpose of empowering a group of sex workers. The project sponsored by foreign donors had the goal of training about 50 sex-workers in sewing and embroidery skills for the making of clothing and household goods for the tourist market. The main purpose was to promote the social reinstatement of sex workers by giving them the opportunity to learn new skills that would enable them to support themselves with dignity.

AbstrakLimpapeh atau attacus atlas merupakan kupu-kupu besar dengan bentangan sayap yang luas, yang memiliki warna coklat kemerahan dan dihiasi sedikit warna putih. Kebiasaan limpapeh hinggap pada rumah, bangunan, pepohonan, dedaunan dan bunga yang sedang bermekaran. Bagi masyarakat Minangkabau limpapeh adalah sebutan untuk perempuan Minangkabau yang sudah beranjak dewasa yang bertanggung jawab menjaga garis keturunan berikutnya, berdasarkan garis keturunan ibu yang akan menjadi penghuni dalam rumah gadang. Bentuk limpapeh dalam penciptaan karya ini adalah sebagai motif dari baju kuruang basiba, baju kuruang basiba merupakan pakaian perempuan Minangkabau yang mempunyai ciri khas yaitu pada bagian samping baju terdapatnya siba dan kikik. Bentuk sayap limpapeh yang terdapat pada bagian dada, lengan dan bawahan baju serta bentuk limpapeh yang berbentuk utuh yang berterbangan sehingga membuat baju kuruang basiba, ini lebih menarik. Kata Kunci: limpapeh, baju kuruang, basiba AbstractLimpapeh or attacus atlas is a large butterfly with a broad stretch of wings, which has a reddish brown color and is decorated with a little white color. The habit of leaking on the house, building, trees, leaves and flowers are blooming. For Minangkabau people limpapeh is a term for Minangkabau women who have grown up who are responsible for maintaining the next lineage, based on the maternal lineage that will become residents in the gadang house. The form of limpapeh in the creation of this work is as a motif of kuruang basiba clothes, kuruang basiba clothes are Minangkabau women's clothing which has the characteristic that on the side of the shirt there is siba and kikik. The limpapeh wing shape that is found on the chest, arms and subordinates of the clothes as well as the full shape of the limpapeh which flies to make kuruang basiba clothes, this is more interesting. Keywords: limpapeh, kuruang basiba's clothes

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An opportunity currently exists for retailers to develop store image strategies to target the female large-size apparel consumer market within the multicultural South African consumer society. This exploratory study set out to generate and describe retail store image attributes perceived as important to the female large-size apparel consumer within the South African context, as well as identifying differences and similarities in the perception of these attributes based on race and age group. The study also aimed to determine if the existing store image attribute groupings by Lindquist (1974-1975:31) is applicable when studying the female largesize apparel consumer. Focus groups were used as method of data collection in this study. The sample population (n=37) consisted of account holders who purchased apparel from a specific large-size apparel retail store during a specific time period. Three race groups, namely Africans, Coloureds, and Whites, as well as three age groups i.e. 20-29, 30-39, and 40-54 year age groups were included. Each focus group was homogenous in race and age composition. A facilitator conducted group discussions by following a focus group schedule. The first part of the discussion generated retail store image attributes deemed important by the focus group participants, followed by the rating of the perceived importance of these attributes using the Schutte Visual Scale. The second part of the discussion generated participants' description of Lindquist's nine identified store image attribute groupings, followed by the rating of the perceived importance of each of these attribute groupings using the Schutte Visual Scale. Transcriptions of all the focus group discussions were made. For the first part of the study the transcriptions were compiled into composite lists and refined based on Lindquist's nine attribute groupings. The aggregate ratings for each specific attribute and attribute grouping were calculated. For the second part of the study's results, the descriptions of each of Lindquist's nine attribute groupings was compiled into a single list of descriptive attributes. The aggregate ratings for each of these attributes groupings were calculated. Respondents perceived Merchandise and Clientele the most important attribute groupings in the analysis of all race and age groups, followed by Service, Post-transaction satisfaction, Promotion and Store atmosphere. Institutional factors and Physical facilities were perceived as the least important attribute groupings. No attributes relating to Convenience were generated. In the analysis of race and age groups, Merchandise and Service, followed by Store atmosphere, were perceived as the most important attribute groupings by most of the focus groups. The specific attributes generated by the different groups showed similarities, whereas the rating and definition of these attributes differed. Lindquist's descriptions of the nine attribute groupings were compared to the descriptions of the respondents. Similarities and differences were identified. Recommendations were made to refine and adapt Lindquist's attribute groupings and descriptions to develop a store image research framework that could be more applicable to the female large-size apparel consumer. This exploratory study provides some insight into the perceived importance of retail store image attributes by the female large-size apparel consumer, given the context of a multi-cultural South African society. Recommendations for future research were made and the implications for retailers were outlined.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar bestaan tans 'n geleentheid vir kleinhandelaars om 'n winkelbeeld strategie te ontwikkel wat gemik is op die vroulike groter figuur kledingverbruiker binne die multikulturele Suid- Afrikaanse verbruikersamelewing. Hierdie verkennende studie poog om kleinhandel winkelbeeldeienskappe wat deur die vroulike groter figuur kledingverbruiker binne die Suid- Afrikaanse konteks as belangrik beskou word, te genereer en te beskryf, sowel as om die verskille en ooreenkomste in persepsies van die belangrikheid van hierdie eienskappe tussen ras en ouderdomsgroep te identifiseer. Die studie het ook ten doeI om te bepaal of die bestaande winkelbeeldeienskap groeperinge, soos deur Lindquist (1974-1975:31) voorgestel, toepaslik is wanneer die vroulike groter figuur kledingverbruiker bestudeer word. Fokusgroepe is as metode van data-insameling gebruik. Die steekproef (n=37) was rekeninghouers wat aankope gedoen het by 'n bepaalde groter figuur kledingkleinhandelaar binne 'n spesifieke tydsperiode (n=37). Drie rassegroepe naamlik Swartes, Kleurlinge, en Blankes, sowel as drie ouderdomsgroepe te wete 20-29, 30-39, en 40-54-jariges is ingesluit. Elke fokusgroep was homogeen in ras- en ouderdomsamestelling. 'n Fasiliteerder het die fokusgroepbesprekings gevoer deur 'n fokusgroepskedule te volg. Die eerste deel van die bespreking het kleinhandel winkelbeeldeienskappe, wat deur die fokusgroepdeelnemers as belangrik beskou is, gegenereer. Dit is gevolg deur die meting van die respondente se persepsie van die belangrikheid van hierdie eienskappe met behulp van die Schutte Visuele Skaal. Die tweede deel van die bespreking het beskrywings van Lindquist se nege winkelbeeldeienskap groeperinge gegenereer en is gevolg deur die meting van respondente se persepsie van die belangrikheid van hierdie eienskap groeperinge met behulp van die Schutte Visuele Skaal. Transkripsies is van al die fokusgroepbesprekings gemaak. Vir die eerste deel van die studie is die transkripsies in lyste van spesifieke eienskappe saamgestel en georden volgens Lindquist se nege eienskap groeperinge. Die gemiddelde waarde vir elke spesifieke eienskap sowel as vir die eienskap groepering is bereken. Vir die tweede deel van die studie is beskrywings van elk van Lindquist se nege eienskap groepering saamgestel in 'n enkele lys van beskrywende eienskappe. Die gemiddelde waarde vir elk van hierdie eienskap groeperinge is bereken. Respondente beskou Goedere (Merchandise) en Kliëntebasis (Clientele) as die belangrikste eienskap groeperinge in 'n analise van alle ras- en ouderdomsgroepe, gevolg deur Diens (Service), Na-verkoop tevredenheid (Post-transaction satisfaction), Promosie (Promotion) en Winkelatmosfeer (Store atmosphere). Institusionele faktore (Institutional factors) en Fisiese fasiliteite (Physical facilities) is die minste belangrik. Geen eienskappe wat met Gerief (Convenience) verband hou, is gegenereer nie. In die analise van ras- en ouderdomsgroepe is Goedere en Diens, gevolg deur Winkelatmosfeer, as die belangrikste eienskap groeperinge beskou deur meeste van die fokusgroepe. Die spesifieke eienskappe wat deur die verskillende groepe gegenereer is, dui op ooreenkomste, terwyl die gemiddelde waarde en fokus van die eienskappe verskil. Lindquist se beskrywings van die nege eienskap groeperinge is vergelyk met die beskrywings van die respondente. Ooreenkomste en verskille is geïdentifiseer. Voorstelle is gemaak om Lindquist se eienskap groeperinge en beskrywings te verfyn en aan te pas ten einde 'n winkelbeeld navorsingsraamwerk te ontwikkel wat meer toepaslik is op die vroulike groter figuur kledingverbruiker. Hierdie verkennende studie bied insig in die vroulike groter figuur kledingverbruiker se persepsies van die belangrikheid van kleinhandel winkelbeeldeienskappe, gegewe die konteks van 'n multkulturele Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Aanbevelings vir verdere navorsing word gemaak en die implikasies vir kleinhandelaars is uitgewys.

碩士
輔仁大學
織品服裝學系
99
It is to frequently consider that the obesity is infamy at the nowadays. On the health viewpoint, the obesity will cause a lot of diseases, but expect for health, many obese women’s psychological feeling will be affected by the social viewpoint. The large size women have the needs for purchasing the clothes as same as the general size women. Under the deviation concept of the society for the large size women, how do the large size women perceive their own body and choose their clothes? Besides, how do their body images influence the clothing purchasing behavior? To get the realest thought of the large size women, this research adopted the case study with the half-structural interview to explore the linking between the body image of the large size women and their purchasing behavior on clothing. The research results indicated that if the large size women were obese since the childhood, their psychological aspects are more optimistic and expansive than women that became obese after childbirth or work. They are also not easily hurt by the commentary from the others in the society and choose the clothes according to their likes. The self-confidence of the large size women were not related to BMI value which is only for the pattern reference to the clothing suppliers. So, there is no connection between the clothing preference of the large size women and BMI value. Based on the study, the large size women like to use the dark color to decorate the lower body part but choose the bright color for the top since they want to present the optimism in the mind. Although the whole black dress looks thinner, the large size women don’t like the dress up. The reason is the whole black makes spiritless. In addition, the large size women consumers thought they have the right to seek fashion. The issue is that they often aren’t able to buy the suitable and available clothes in the market. Large size women considered the previous problem is from the suppliers, not the large size women themselves. From the viewpoint, most of the large size women consumers don’t be affected by the inconvenience on buying the clothes. The large size women consumers like the overseas shopping environment as they can choose any clothes depends on their love, not by saleperson in Taiwan shopping environment. During the interview, the majority of the large size women don’t think their body shapes no good enough, but according to the record and the researcher’s observation, they also use the clothes to make up the body shape by color, clothing style or material. It can be proved that the social viewpoint still affect the body image of the large size women. Summarily, the body concept of the large women will be affected and changed by the public opinion and they still want to present themselves and beauty through clothes.

Versailles had very little interest in the Ohio River valley until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when increased amounts of peltry found their way into English hands. Cadillac founded Detroit to divert the trade back to the French, but only when Detroit traders and merchants supplied what Indians most desired did this fort become a viable exchange post. The trade changed dramatically in the eighteenth century, as a large number of matrifocal households emerged along the western tributary rivers of the Ohio. These female-dominated households not only controlled the food supply but were the processors of peltry, thus allowing women to exert greater power over the exchange process. More than 70 percent of the trade goods shipped to Detroit consisted of cloth, and women’s work of transforming cloth into clothing transformed the dress and prosperity of the region. Although Detroit secured a greater share of the trade for New France, it intensified the conflict between France and England.

This chapter focuses on the origins and rise of another new form of secondhand exchange: the garage sales. Hosted and attended mostly by women, garage sales emerged in 1950s suburbs as tactics for newly isolated housewives to earn intermittent income, participate in politics, and build community networks. From huge Barry Goldwater campaign fundraisers to small family sales to raise "pin money," these intimate events both adapted to and defied the spatial limitations of suburban domesticity and postwar gender expectations. Moreover, garage sales introduced a new, larger-than-ever generation of middle-class youth to secondhand goods and clothing—providing provocative glimpses of the tools that could be used in a partly generational rejection of class status, sexual normativity, and political consensus.

Plantation agriculture created a culture in which commanding a slave became a mark of distinction. Large owners left a slave to each of their children as one of the accoutrements of a respectable lady or gentleman. White children of necessity had to learn to be masters and their black companions to be slaves. Much of this learning occurred through the stories of black-white relationships which slaves told each other. The stories formed a body of black literature which was passed along with other skills like singing and playing. White masters had to learn to provide supplies for their workforce—food, clothing, housing. Management of a large plantation called for the skills of a quartermaster. Whites, furthermore, even white women, had to learn to demand and to punish. As they grew, black children had to decide if they were to seek to be trusted by their masters or take a chance on resistance. Resistance could involve little more than slacking off work when not under the master’s gaze. Or it could mean running away. During the Revolution, black families that were seemingly quiescent took the chance on joining the British forces and ran away. Blacks concealed their true feelings in hiding places in their minds.

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.