D. A. Weaver – Safety Icon
November 12, 2012 No CommentsD. A. Weaver (on the left) was one of the leaders of the safety management movement during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s. D .A., and his close friend Dan Petersen, were at least partially responsible for the occupational safety profession moving from the old and outdated “3E” era of safety (engineering, enforcement, and education) to the modern “Safety Management” era (safety culture, behavioral science, and modern leadership theory). For years, D. A. Weaver and Dan Petersen would eat lunch and takes breaks together. I would have given anything to be a “fly on the wall” during those discussions!
A true safety management guru, Mr. Weaver was know for sayings such as –
- “Safety really is nothing more than a by-product of doing right things right.”
- “Excellent organizations frequently achieve exceptional safety results in the absence of any visible safety program, while…excellent safety performance cannot be attained in a poorly managed organization.”
D. A. (Dennis Aloysius) Weaver was born during World War I. He earned Bachelors and Masters degrees from Penn State University during the Great Depression. He then served in Europe and Africa with the American Field Service in World War II. D. A. was a professor at major universities across the country, including: Southern Methodist, Penn State, Purdue, Northwestern and the University of Arizona. Then, in the early 1960’s he moved to Wausau, Wisconsin to become the Director of Policyholder Education at the home office of Wausau Insurance Company. He held that position for 16 years.
The above photo was taken at the home office of Wausau Insurance Company in 1992. D. A. Weaver is on the left, and I’m on the right. D. A. stopped in to visit me, because at that time I held his old position – Director of Policyholder Education. During this meeting, D. A. taught me the finer points of TOR Analysis.
Here’s some little known facts about D. A. Weaver –
- His first real job at age 16 was working directly for the famous self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, and public speaking guru Dale Carnegie. Those of us who knew D.A. would agree that he was the embodiment of Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.
- D. A. was a great humanitarian! He cared deeply about the health, safety and well-being of all people. During WWII D.A. served in the African and European theaters as an ambulance attendant. This was the start of his life long calling to save lives and prevent human suffering.
- In the 1960’s the ASSE was only open to safety professionals with “engineering” degrees. D.A. was instrumental in convincing ASSE leadership to allow non-engineers into their society.
A prolific researcher and author, D. A. Weaver wrote (or co-wrote) many publications on safety management. He always said that his very best work and his greatest legacy was “TOR – Technic of Operations Review“. TOR is a management tool that is used to locate, define, and eliminate the operational errors and management oversights that cause near-misses and accidents.
Below are links to two 1970’s vintage D. A. Weaver articles. Both are posted with the permission of the ASSE, publisher of the ASSE Journal (now know as Professional Safety).
In 1990, D.A. Weaver was named a “Fellow” of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). In 1996, he was inducted into the Safety and Health Hall of Fame International. D. A. passed away on July 22nd, 2013 in Pueblo, Colorado.
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