AUGUST. 1959 Mnwi PAGE 7 Coiiipaiiy Tfttcs Scriously
Its Employees’ Welfare
RUBBER BATH—Rayon and nylon tire cord is dipped into a
liquid rubber compound in tire manufacturing operations at Fire
stone. This gum-dipped cord is used in all Firestone tires. It adds
safety and strength features to the finished product.
Nassau Has Old-World Charm
For an exotic step into an
Old-World picture, go on a
guided tour of Nassau. And if
you would appreciate your
American homeland more than
ever, go to the same city—
capital and chief port of the
Bahamas in the West Indies.
It was the observation of Mrs.
Clayton Wilson, Payroll super
visor who, with Mr. Wilson, re
cently motored to Miami, Fla.,
then took a “package” air trip
and sightseeing jaunt around
the British crown colony’s Big
Town.
The Wilsons first visited rel
atives and acquaintances in
Miami, then spent two days
among the landmarks of the
quaint tourist mecca in New
Providence, one of the Bahamas
which stretch south almost to
Haiti in the Caribbean.
“What impressed us most was
the Straw Market on Bay
street,” they reported. “It was
fascinating to watch the natives
weave with speed and skill the
many souvenir items as they
sit before rows of colorful shops
bursting with an endless variety
of wares.”
INCLUDED on the conducted
tour was a ride in the horse-
drawn surry with fringed top,
which travels the left side of
the road. Along the way, the
visitors saw the historic forts
of Fincastle and Montagu—both
dating back to the 1700s, Pirate
Blackbeard’s tower, the Queen’s
Staircase carved in stone by
slave labor; the shipping docks,
famous hotels, restaurants, night
clubs and rum and perfume
markets.
“It was all so beautiful and
fascinating,” said Mrs. Wilson.
“But life there is so much a
part of the past that it makes
you feel awfully good to get
back to the States.”
WATER SAFETY
a
No doubt you’ll be spending many happy hours this summer at the
lake or beach. Use these common-sense precautions for a safer,
enjoyable vacation.
Stay out of the water at least
one hour after eating.
Never swim alone or away
from others.
If you can’t swim stay in
shallow water, not more than
waist deep, for safety.
Don’t dive into unfamiliar
water.
Keep a close supervision
over children in or near the
water.
If you are not a swimmer,
stay out of boats unless a
life jacket is worn.
Get your suntan gradually to
avoid sunburn. Wear dark
glasses on shore in bright
sun to avoid glare that can
cause injury to your eyes.
© AMERICAN MUTUAU LIAB. INS. CO.
BY HARVEY S. FIRESTONE JR.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company
At headquarters of The Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, a
veteran employee recently received a 40-
year service pin, one of many awarded dur
ing the past year. Such lengthy service is
an indication of the loyalty of our em
ployees.
Ten thousand employees of The Fire
stone Tire & Rubber Company have receiv
ed awards for 30 years of company service
since 1934 when Harvey S. Firestone, found
er of the company, started the employee
service recognition program.
More than 33 per cent of those at our
headquarters have been with our company
20 years or more. And 13 per cent of our
more than 40,000 employees in the United
States share this same distinction.
Retaining such skilled workers of long ex
perience is due to their own interest and our
continuing efforts to make Firestone “a
good place to work.”
Recreation and Benefits Program
We inaugurated formal and extensive pro
grams of employee recreation and benefits
when we entered a period of substantial
growth around the time of World War I.
Through our suggestion system, em
ployees are encouraged to offer ideas for
improving working conditions, developing
new safety devices, and economizing on op
erations and material usage. Now in its 41st
year, the system has paid about $1,200,000
to our employees. In 1958 awards amounted
to $69,340.
We have received many awards from the
National Safety Council in industrial safe
ty, the latest being the Award of Honor
given to our Pottsdam, Pa., plant for setting
a world safety record for tire plants—9,917,-
334 man-hours worked without a lost-time
accident.
We are conscious of the safety of our
employees away from their jobs, and in
1958 inaugurated an automobile safety
check at our plants. Employees were given
the opportunity of having their cars in
spected by experts either on plant property
or streets immediately adjacent. In this way
more than 10,000 vehicles were safety-
checked.
Protection Through Insurance
We have an extensive program of group
life, health, and accident insurance, through
which 45,000 employees and 111,000 of their
‘And If A Bee
Mahes A Mistake...’
Many are the stories about honeybees—
references to their remarkable instinct,
dependability and untiring industry during
a short life span of some six weeks.
Did you ever wonder what would result
if one of the worker bees in a colony made
a mistake—a quality mistake?
Suppose a worker bee, neglecting the task
at hand, absent-mindedly flies over to the
wrong flower and gathers some nectar of
poor or unsuitable quality.
That one mistake would ruin the entire
store of honey being carefully produced by
the rest of the colony.
Of course, this doesn’t usually happen
with honeybees. Deep down in their in
stinctive nature they know—and keep
remembering—that quality production is
an important part of their life’s work.
Within the fabric of this observation on
honey and honeybees there lies a lesson for
those of us who turn out products for the
marketplace.
Quality depends upon everyone who puts
his hand to the task of manufacturing
things for people to buy and use. If one
person neglects to put the best of workman
ship into his part of the process, quality is
lowered. If other workers grow careless,
The Firestone company introduced large-
scale programs of employee recreation and
benefits around the time of World War I.
These and new programs the company main
tains for its employees are here described in
the fourth of five articles written at the in
vitation of The Christian Science Monitor.
Text reprinted by permission of The Chris
tian Science Monitor.
dependents are protected. In 1958 this plan
paid out $8,565,926.
Because we believe in the concept of good
corporate citizenship, we encourage our em
ployees to play their parts in civic, youth,
cultural, and educational groups. We co
operate with and support such organizations
as the Future Farmers of America, the 4-H
Clubs, the Boy Scouts, the United Fund and
Community Chest, the Red Cross, and nu
merous other worthy groups. Many thou
sands of volunteer man-hours are contrib
uted each year by our executives and other
employees to the successful operation of
these and other philanthropic endeavors.
Contributions to Education
In the field of education, we not only
make direct grants to institutions of higher
learning for research and other purposes;
we also have a competitive scholarship pro
gram for sons and daughters of our em
ployees.
Started in 1953, this program provides full
tuition for winners at the college or uni
versity of their choice, and makes a contri
bution to their living costs and other ex
penses.
Firestone scholars are now attending 60
different colleges and universities in 22
states and the District of Columbia. Fields
in which they are studying include foreign
service, engineering, law, medicine, teach
ing, psychology, journalism, and many
others.
The Goal; Good Products and Services
Purpose of our program of employee
benefits in general is to help assure the com
pany of the skill and experience of veteran
employees so that our customers will get
products and services of uniformly high
quality.
Our company is constantly aware of the
value of human relations and the need for
good will. We continually appraise our prog
ress in these fields, both with employees and
with customers, as a basic part of our op
erating corporate philosophy.
i
the damage is multiplied. As a result, em
ployees who do a good job suffer from er
rors of the few.
The product gets stopped at the inspection
table. To the list of cause and effect, add
mounting waste, unnecessary expense, lost
time in production, and robbery of pride in
good workmanship for the whole manufac
turing “colony.”
Firestone —-
Making The Best Today
Still Better Tmnorroiv