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33. Toxicology

As a result of our actions our sales and margin trends in the first half of fiscal 2009 were stronger than our expectations.We gained market share at our core wholesale accounts, we successfully launched the american living brand across more than 40 product categories, and we maintained our consistent mid single digit comp rate at our retail stores while preserving our profitability. The unprecedented economic challenges that emerged in september and impacted our second half of fiscal 2009 were clearly a game changer for all industries around the world.The corresponding pullback in consumer demand trends came fast and hard, and we were not immune.Interestingly it was the core luxury customer and tourists who retrenched the most.For us that meant our retail comps reversed their consistent multi year mid single digit growth rate and declined at a double digit rate as traffic levels dropped significantly and the environment became extremely promotional. The challenges at our retail store ralph lauren italia shop were balanced with the strength in other areas of our company. We also responded to the rapidly changing environment by implementing strong expense and inventory disciplines throughout the organization, including a company wide restructuring effort in the fourth quarter which we expect to benefit from as we move into fiscal 2010.Even as we've managed through such unsettled market conditions we continue to execute against our long term strategic objectives in fiscal 2009.The investments we make in our future growth initiatives are critical and we have the balance sheet and cash flows to continue to support them.In fact, the strategic investments we made over the last several years to expand our direct to consumer reach, grow internationally and develop new products that have helped us offset some of the impact of lower domestic shipments of our core products during fiscal 2009.The site sales grew 19% last year, approximately four times faster than total online sales and is in the ninth year of consecutive double digit growth. Europe was another area of remarkable strength for us during fiscal 2009.We maintained double digit constant currency growth throughout the year even as macro pressures intensified in the back half.Of course this growth rate is even more impressive given that we have grown our european sales more than five fold over the last seven years.We believe there is still much room for our wholesale and resale segments to expand their reach throughout europe.We are in the midst of a market redevelopment ralph lauren uomo sconti strategy in france which includes some high profile flagship store locations as well as revitalizing presentations of all our brands in many leading department stores.We just introduced lauren, our largest women's brand in terms of sales volume, into about 80 european doors.So the global potential for that brand is only just beginning. The timing of the transition allows us to begin building our hong kong based team that will manage southeast asia, and to plan for it system implementation and ralph lauren uomo hoodies store development initiatives ahead of going live in the region.We expect our most significant investment spending to be concentrated in the next two to three years as we grow from a handful of dedicated employees on the ground today to a couple hundred employees over the next three years. In conjunction with our accelerated investment to pursue market share gains worldwide, we continue to refine our global operating standards.We are a complex company with respect to the breadth of products we sell, the channels through which we sell them and increasingly our global reach.Our bandwidth spans the world's premiere fashion runways with our ralph lauren brands to the main streets of america with chaps and american living brands.And we not only design the product, we are sourcing it, flowing it around the world, marketing and advertising it and often selling it directly to the customer. Now that we have considerable more direct control of the various aspects of our business worldwide, we are identifying and researching opportunities to evolve our core processes and the way we work across divisions, brands and regions.These efforts are designed to enhance our performance in a manner that will allow us to drive greater efficiencies and best leverage our considerable growth prospects.

OHS Organizations Around the World

  • American Petroleum Institute
  • Canadian Auto Workers Union
  • European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
  • Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin
  • Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
  • Canadian Labour Congress
  • Center to Protect Workers' Rights
  • Health and Safety Executive
  • Institut Arbeit und Gesundheit der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung
  • International Agency for Research on Cancer
  • International Commission on Occupational Health
  • Institut fur Arbeitsphysiologie
  • Israeli Institute for Occupational Safety & Health
  • Institut National de Recherche et de Securite
  • Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo
  • Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
  • Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité du travail
  • Institut universitaire romand de Sante au Travail
  • Institute for Science of Labour
  • Instituto Seguros Sociales
  • International Organization for Standardization
  • International Social Security Association
  • National Fire Protection Association
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
  • Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (now SUVA)
  • Tyoterveyslaitos
  • United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
  • United Food and Commercial Workers
  • World Health Organization
  • The American Industrial Hygiene Association
  • Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung

American Petroleum Institute

logoapiAmerican Pedtroleum Institute (API) is the leading U.S. trade association for the oil and natural gas industry, which represents coporations involved in the production, refinement, distribution and other aspects of the petroleum industry.

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Canadian Auto Workers Union

logocawCanadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) is the largest private sector union in Canada representing workers throughout virtually every sector of the Canadian economy.

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European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

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European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) was set up to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive. This is done by bringing together and sharing knowledge and information, to promote a culture of risk prevention.

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Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

logoccohs

Canadian Centre for Occupatioanl Health and Safety (CCOHS) promotes the total well-being - physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working Canadians by providing information, training, education, management systems and solutions that support health, safety and wellness programs.

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Canadian Labour Congress

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Canadian Labour Congress brings together Canada’s national and international unions, the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.

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Center to Protect Workers' Rights

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The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (CPWR), now called The Center for Construction Research and Training, is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry.

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Health and Safety Executive

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Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent regulator and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.

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Institut Arbeit und Gesundheit der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung

(IAG - Institute Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance)

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The Institute for Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IAG) is a part of the DGUV Academy in Dresden, promoting safety and health at the workplace by training, research and development, and consultancy and to support the German Social Accident Insurance.

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International Agency for Research on Cancer

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International Agency for Research on Cancer is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization tasked with conducting and coordinating research into the cases of cancer.

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International Commission on Occupational Health

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International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) is an international non-governmental professional society, which aims to foster the scientific progress, knowledge and development of occupational health and safety.

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Institut fur Arbeitsphysiologie

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The Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) investigates potentials and risks of modern work on the basis of behavioural and life sciences. The results of our research are used to design new regulations and guidelines for a beneficial and healthy working environment.

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Israeli Institute for Occupational Safety & Health

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Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene (IIOSH) is Israel's national public institution concerned with the workplace safety and health.

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Institut National de Recherche et de Securite

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Institut National de Recherche et de Securite (INRS) conducts study and research programmes to improve the health and safety of men and women at work in France, from toxicological hazards to physical and psychological well-being.

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Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

logoiomehInstitute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health’s activities cover: research, expertise and training in public health, occupational medicine and environmental health impact assessment, diagnosis and treatment of occupational and environmental diseases, as well as implementation of health promotion and prevention of diseases.

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Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail

logoirsst

Established in Québec since 1980, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) is a scientific research organization known for the quality of its work and the expertise of its personnel.

The Institute is a private, non-profit agency.

Its board of directors is composed of an equal number of trade union and employers' representatives, making it a joint body.

The Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) provides most of the Institute's funding from the contributions it collects from employers.

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Institut universitaire romand de Sante au Travail

logoist

Institut universitaire romand de Sante au Travail (IST) has no inspection or monitoring function; it provides teaching, research, assessment and consultancy as well as promotion in the field of occupational health in Switzerland.

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Institute for Science of Labour

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The Institute is an independent non-profit-making research body under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.

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Instituto Seguros Sociales

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One of the largest organizations in the Columbian government the Instituto Seguros Sociales provides health services and guaranteed pensions to millions of Columbians.

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International Organization for Standardization

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International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 160 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

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International Social Security Association

logoissa

The International Social Security Association (ISSA) is the principal international institution bringing together social security agencies and organizations.

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National Fire Protection Association

logonfpa

The National Fire Protection Association is a nonprofit aimed at reducing the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.

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National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

logoniosh

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness.

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Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine

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The Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine is an independent research and development centre that provides background research and promotes healthy lifestyles among Polish workers.

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Occupational Safety and Health Administration

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the main federal agency charged with the enforcement of safety and health legislation.

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Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (now SUVA)

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Suva, a non-profit company formerly known as the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund, provides accident insurance products, and prevention and rehabilitation services for industrial trading and commercial enterprises in Switzerland.

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Tyoterveyslaitos

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Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, FIOH, is a research and specialist organization in the field of occupational health and safety.

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United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America

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The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, with members in virtually every sector of the economy.

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United Food and Commercial Workers

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United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has 1.3 million union members work in a range of industries, with the majority working in retail food, meatpacking and poultry, food processing and manufacturing, and retail stores.

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World Health Organization

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Within the United Nations the World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

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The American Industrial Hygiene Association

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The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is one of the largest international associations serving the need of occupational and environmental health and safety professional practicing industrial hygiene in industry, government, labor, academic institutions, and independent organizations.

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Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung

logodguv

Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (DGUV) is the umbrella association of the accident insurance institutions for the industrial and public sectors.

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