At Atlas Roofing manufacturing plants, safety is about more than regulations — it’s the daily habit of exercising best practices so employees feel secure that they can go home to their families every night.

In a crucial effort to eliminate preventable injuries or even death, Atlas integrates safety as a core company value through its leadership, education and continuous evaluation.

"We have formal safety programs at all of the plants, and we also do formal internal audits at all of our locations twice a year at a minimum," explains Russ Addison, Corporate Safety Manager for Atlas Roofing. "We don’t just rely on OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to come in and audit our plants.”

In fact, Atlas Roofing’s entire culture is driven by safety.  

“Our leadership doesn’t give out awards for profit, they don’t give out awards for sales goals,” Addison says. “The only award they gives out every year is for safety. The Hood Safety Award is considered the highest honor in all of Atlas.”

The company presents two safety awards — one for plants with less than a hundred employees and one for plants with 100 or more employees.

“That’s what every plant manager strives for, recognizing their excellence in safety,” Addison says.

In addition to its daily diligence, Atlas holds an annual environmental health and safety conference, hosted by Addison, where managers from all of the plants come together to discuss ideas, new rules, best practices and related issues.   

ARMA Safety Awards

Apart from the prestigious Hood Safety Award, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) also presents annual safety awards.

Atlas Roofing is pleased to announce that three of its locations received this year’s awards from the trade association, presented as part of ARMA’s 2016 Accident Prevention Contest.

Atlas Roofing’s Daingerfield, TX, plant was honored with an Award of Excellence, which is presented to plants that have recorded three consecutive years of a perfect ARMA index (0.00).

The Daingerfield plant was also presented with a Perfect Safety Award, as was the Ardmore, OK, plant. The Perfect Safety Award is based on each location’s safety record of no lost or restricted days and no reportable OSHA incidents. Thus far in 2017, the Daingerfield plant has achieved 1 million man-hours without a lost-time incident. For the past several years, the Atlas composite OSHA recordable incident rate has been well below 2.0 — an outstanding accomplishment.

“I’m extremely proud of our team,” says Greg Frost, Daingerfield Plant Manager. “We work hard and take care of each other by always staying safe so we can head back to our families at the end of each day. We’re honored to be recognized by ARMA with an Award of Excellence and Perfect Safety Award, which symbolizes our success.”

In addition, the Ardmore and Franklin, OH, plants each received a Certificate of Improvement, which is presented to plants that demonstrate an improvement in their ARMA index of at least 25 percent over their previous year’s performance. As of 2017, the Franklin plant has achieved 1,000 days without a lost-time incident.

“Atlas is extremely proud of our plant managers and employees for their continued accomplishments in creating and maintaining safe and healthy work environments,” says Dale Rushing, Vice President of Manufacturing/Residential at Atlas.

Atlas Roofing manufacturing facilities have a long history of safety. In 2013, the Atlas plant in Hampton, GA, received the ARMA President’s Award — the top award for safety — for the previous year. In 2016, the Daingerfield plant received the same award for the 2015 working year.

“Safety is always our No. 1 priority,” Addison says. "At all of our Atlas manufacturing plants, we consistently strive to uphold and exceed all safety standards for the well-being of our employees and the peace of mind of their families."

For more information on ARMA, visit AsphaltRoofing.com. For more information on Atlas Roofing and its products, visit AtlasRoofing.com.