Dan
Petesen
Class of 1997
Background:
Dan Petersen was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1931, where he
attended grade and high school. He attended Iowa State University
graduating in Industrial Engineering in 1952. After service
in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he entered safety as
a field safety engineer for a major workers' compensation
insurance company, working in Milwaukee and later Wausau,
Wisconsin.
Professional
Experience:
After eight years in the field, he was promoted to Director
of Training for four years, Manager of Safety for two years,
and Vice President of Loss Control for a major carrier in
San Francisco. After a number of years in the top positions
for insurance companies, he returned to school attaining a
Master's degree in Industrial Psychology at the University
of Nebraska in 1972, while working full time as a Corporate
Safety Manager for manufacturing firm. In 1975, Dr. Petersen
joined the University of Arizona where he created and taught
the graduate program in safety management in the School of
business and Public Administration. After additional appointments
at Colorado State University as an Associate Professor, and
later at Arizona State University as Full Professor, he began
his consulting career where he served Fortune 2000 companies
for more than 20 years in the United States, Canada, Europe
and Asia. While consulting, he completed his doctoral studies
in 1980 in Organizational Behavior and Management.
Career
Highlights:
Dr.Petersen, working with D.A. Weaver in the early 1960s developed
the early concepts in how to ensure management's leadership
role in safety-through-accountability systems. The concepts
were published in 1971 in his first book, Techniques of Safety
Management, published in McGraw Hill. In 1975 he wrote the
first book on Behavior-Based Safety, laying the foundation
for many of to-day's programs by the title. To date he has
published 13 books, most now in the second or third editions,
and 10 video tapes on various aspects of safety management.
During this period he consulted for many railroads, worked
with Association of American Railroads, led early experiments
with positive reinforcement to mold worker behaviors, developed
a perception survey to better understand the worker's point
of view, and other innovative approaches to safety management.
In the
1970s Dr. Petersen served as the President of the National
Safety Management Society, as well as the Vice President for
Research and Development of the American Society of Safety
Engineers. Perhaps his most meaningful accomplishments were
the injury reductions that occurred in the organizations he
consulted with.
