Safety Programs

New Employee Training
Before being allowed on the roof, each member of a Petersen-Dean roofing crew must complete a comprehensive safety training program introducing them to the practices and equipment crucial to working safely. During this program, every trainee is issued his own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) consisting of fall protection kit, hardhat, safety glasses, respirator & gloves.

Fall Protection & PPE
Since 2002, Petersen-Dean has had a mandatory fall protection policy for all of our roofers. Each roofer is certified in fall protection practices. Our program meets OSHA requirements and is intended to both ensure the safety of our workers and reduce our insurance costs.

Each roofer is responsible to show up on site every day with his own Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and to use it on the job. If a crew member arrives to a job site without their PPE, he is sent home. We like to say that "PPE lasts forever at Petersen-Dean," because old or worn out safety equipment is swapped for new equipment as often as needed to ensure continued safely. All supervisors and Safety Inspectors carry PPE at all Petersen-Dean job sites ready to make replacements.

Respiratory Protection
Petersen-Dean proactively worked with NIOSH to determine if their were any roofing practices that would require special respiratory protection. NIOSH testing determined that cutting roof tile exposes roofers to levels of silica that are above permissible limits. With this knowledge, Petersen-Dean initiated a Respiratory Protection Program where roofers are evaluated, trained and protected against exposure in accordance with OSHA requirements.

Inspection and Enforcement
Petersen-Dean regularly performs jobsite safety inspections and employs teams of Safety Inspectors to replace PPE, provide retraining, and insure that everyone is working safely. Our company maintains a strict disciplinary policy dictating that action must be taken if a worker is found to be in violation of company safety rules. When one worker is found working in an unsafe manner, all roofers on the jobsite are brought together for a meeting to review the unsafe act and to ensure that everyone knows that each individual is responsible to correct safety violations. This meeting is documented as well as the individual employee warning. Any violation triggers re-inspection of the crew until compliance is regular. Employees with repeat safety violations are terminated.

Safe Work Incentives
Our roofing crews are given a safety bonus for each phase of roofing completed safely. Other incentives are given for crews with long-term safety records. We have found that these incentives help motivate compliance, particularly when partnered with stringent safety enforcement.