IMPROVING WORKING CONDITIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY …

1 IMPROVINGWORKING CONDITIONSAND PRODUCTIVITY INTHE GARMENT INDUSTRY111111/111111///1 Ill!! li/lI Il//llIll liii45408rIVEDIIMPROVINGWORKING CONDITIONSAND PRODUCTIVITY INTHE GARMENT INDUSTRYAn action manualedited by Juan Carlos HibaInternational Labour Office GenevaCopyright International Labour Organization 1998 First published 1998 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 ofthe Universal Copyright Convention, Nevertheless, short excerpts from them maybe reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. Forrights of reproduction or translation,application should be made to thePublications Bureau (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office,CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland.

2 The International Labour Office welcomes , institutions and other users registered in the United Kingdom with theCopyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE(Fax + 44 171 436 3986), in the United States with the Copyright ClearanceCenter, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 (Fax + 1 508 750 4470), or inother countries with associated Reproduction Rights Organizations, may makephotocopies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this , Juan CarlosImproving WORKING CONDITIONS and PRODUCTIVITY in the garment industry: Practical ideasfor ownersand managers of small and medium -sized enterprisesGeneva, International Labour Office, 1998/Management development guide!

3 , / WORKING CONDITIONS !, /Labour PRODUCTIVITY !, !Management',!SmaIl-scale industry!, !Clothing industry!. 92-2-110849-XILO Cataloguing in Publication DataThe designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity withUnited Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply theexpression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International LabourOffice concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of itsauthorities, or concerning the delimitation of its responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and othercontributions rests solely with their authors.

4 And publication does not constitute anendorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in to names of firms and commercial products and processes does notimply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure tomention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices inmany countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office,Cl-I-1211 Geneva 22, or lists of new publications areavailable free of charge from the above in ItalyILOITURP refaceImprovements in WORKING CONDITIONS and workorganization can result in increased PRODUCTIVITY andcompetitiveness.

5 This has been clearly demonstrated inAsia, Latin America and Africa by entrepreneurs of smalland medium -sized enterprises who have taken voluntaryaction to improve WORKING CONDITIONS and 1988, the ILO published two manuals on Higherproductivity and a better place to work: an Action manual,addressed to owner-managers of small and medium -sizedenterprises, and a Trainers' manual. These manuals havebeen used in numerous awareness-raising and trainingworkshops, as part of the Office's technical advisoryservices and for technical cooperation projects. They haveencouraged improvements in different types of individualenterprises making products such as iron castings,furniture, footwear, small household appliances, food andbeverages, paper, tiles and cement pipes, and 1994, it was decided to develop training materialstargeted at a particular industry or sector.

6 The garmentindustry was selected because of its significant contributionto economic growth in many countries and because it is amajor source of foreign-exchange earnings. It is also amajor employer of women. IMPROVING WORKING conditionsand PRODUCTIVITY in this industry could thus result inmaking these small and medium -sized enterprises morecompetitive, efficient and safer, and also extend betterprotection to women publication follows a similar approach to themanuals on Higher PRODUCTIVITY and a better place towork, written by Thurman, Louzine and It shows how to take simple, effective, low-costaction to raise PRODUCTIVITY while IMPROVING CONDITIONS atthe workplace.

7 Some of the technical topics coveredinclude handling and storage of materials, lighting, work-station and product design, safe and efficient machineoperation, workplace layout, welfare facilities and workorganization. The examples given are drawn from actualsituations and experiences of owners and managers ofsmall enterprises producing garments. All of them havevoluntarily participated in training programmes organizedby the ILO. The emphasis is on the implementation ofpractical, low-cost and locally appropriate measuresdirectly related to PRODUCTIVITY . Practical tools forassessing CONDITIONS of work, planning the process ofchange, involving workers and assessing PRODUCTIVITY arealso are indebted to many individuals and institutions forthe ideas and examples used in this book.

8 We benefitedfrom their contributions to technical cooperation projectsand national programmes such as the project financed bythe UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) onImproving WORKING CONDITIONS and PRODUCTIVITY in Small-and medium -sized Enterprises in the Philippines, theFINNIDA (Finnish International Development Agency)financed project on Training and Information Project forAfrican Countries on Occupational Safety and Health inthe United Republic of Tanzania, and the nationalprogramme entitled Melhor Ambiente de Trabalho, MajorProdutividade (Better WORKING environment, higherproductivity) carried out and funded by the ServicoBrasileiro de Apoio as Micros e Pequerias Empresas(SEBRAE).

9 In particular, we are grateful to the followingfor their substantial contributions: the Bureau of WorkingConditions and the Regional Offices of the Department ofLabor and Employment, the Agro-Industrial Managementand Consultancy, Inc., and Mr. William Salter, SeniorSpecialist, ILO Multidisciplinary Team for South-East Asiaand the Pacific, in the Philippines; the FactoriesInspectorate (Ministry of Labour), the National Institute ofProductivity, the Moshi-Arusha Occupational HealthService (MAOHS), and Mr. Vesa Tornberg, AssociateExpert of the FINNIDA project, in the United Republic ofTanzania; and Ms. Regina Heloisa Maciel, Departamentode Psicologia Experimental, Universidade de S o Paulo, also express our appreciation to the hundreds ofowners and managers of small and medium -sizedenterprises who opened their doors and made it possibleto organize the training courses.

10 Their experience andenthusiastic support provided the substance of thispublication. Special thanks to employers' organizations, PRODUCTIVITY centres, training institutions and ministries oflabour that participated in organizing the training in the CONDITIONS of Work Branch providedconsiderable technical, adminisfrative and secretarial back-up to complete this publication. Acknowledgements aredue to Mr. Juan Carlos Hiba, for coordinating thecontributions of various individuals and for the technicalediting, and to Ms. Simone Didero, Ms. Joan Robb andMs. Helen Wielander for typing the many revisions to thefinal text.