As we move into Safety Week 2021 next week, we will celebrate our safety successes and focus our attention on new ways we can improve safety habits and procedures at Ox Industries. As a team, at each of our facilities, we will focus on engaging activities that will help to instill Safety Accountability into all aspects of our lives at work and at home. This is a great time of the year to remember to be thankful for our health and happiness and remind ourselves “why†we work safely.
Name: Clay Staley
Position: Vice President of EHS for Ox Industries
Tell us about your job at Ox Industries? I oversee the company’s strategic plan with regards to employee safety, product compliance/safety, and environmental compliance/stewardship.
How long have you been working for Ox Industries? 9 years
Why is Safety important to you? I have seen the real-life results of a bad safety culture, which ultimately led to an employee fatality and cost my grandfather his small business back in the mid-2000s. The work we do every day has an impact on several industries including consumer products, but it is more important that we protect ourselves and each other from safety incidents, so we get to spend the time outside of work enjoying the important things in life, such as our families, friends, and passions.
What Safety procedures do you practice inside or outside of work on a daily basis?  I firmly believe that evidence of a great safety culture, in any organization, can be found by seeing if what we instill and teach our teams in the facilities carry over to their personal lives outside of work. Outside of work, I ensure energy is isolated when working on equipment at our farm. I also always wear hearing and eye protection while shooting firearms, mowing, or driving our tractor, and encourage family members to do so as well.
Can you tell us how Safety impacted you or your family’s life outside of work? Not implementing or following proper confined space procedures led to a fatality at one of my grandfather’s concrete plants in the mid-2000s. This was a devastating incident that I never want to be a part of again.
Who or what motivates you to work Safely every day? Spending time with my family and getting to enjoy riding horses, shooting firearms, kayaking, hiking, and traveling keeps me motivated to ensure I work safely each day.