In FY08, Nike's Environment, Safety and Health, and Considered Chemistry (responsible for the safe usage of chemicals in Nike consumer products) teams co-hosted with Levi Strauss & Co an ESH/RSL Summit in Dongguan, China. The event marked the first time a group of this size and scale - 400 representatives from brands and contracted manufacturers - gathered to focus on worker, consumer and environmental protection.

Nike presented topics covering return on investment, chemical management, water conservation, product chemistry, waste stewardship and supplier ownership of these concerns. Guest speakers including Guangdong Province's director of workplace safety and a representative of the National Textile and Garment Quality Supervision Testing Center also shared trends around workplace and product safety.

This type of collaboration helps us to focus, reinforce and strengthen the industry's commitment to environment, safety and health. Our success has improved attitudes, increased understanding and cooperation, and raised awareness of the importance of these issues.

We planned a summit in Bangkok for FY09 and had registered 550 participants, but it had to be canceled due to political unrest. Later in FY09 we co-hosted smaller multi-brand ESH sessions in Mexico and El Salvador, bringing together 161 participants from 82 factories serving 16 brands. Sessions focused on top issues including ESH management, emergency preparedness, hazardous waste and communicable diseases.

We have planned further workshops to include other brands like Levi Strauss, Columbia Sportswear and New Balance, and speakers from the organizations such as the International Labour Organization as well as nongovernmental organizations such as Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the Natural Resources Defense Fund to explore broader issues such as water use and conservation.

We are finding that the key to successful collaboration is participation of multiple brands, government agencies, NGOs and manufacturers. Together, we're focused on broader protection of consumers, workers and the environment.