Why I Chose Safety: From Hard Hats to Helping Others

I get asked all the time: "Clay, how did you end up in safety?" It's a fair question because honestly, I never saw myself in this industry. My path started in construction, then led me toward manufacturing and wood products, which was my undergrad focus. But life had different plans.

What really drew me to the safety profession was watching my friends who were already doing this work. Coming from a background where I was the one putting my body on the line every day, seeing guys get hurt on job sites, I realized safety offered something most careers don't: the chance to make a real human impact. You're not just checking boxes or filling out paperwork; you're actually protecting people's lives and livelihoods.

Breaking the "Safety Guy" Stereotype

If you'd pulled 10 guys off any job site back when I was starting out, you wouldn't have found one who said, "Yeah, I like the safety guy."

We did that to ourselves as a profession, and I knew that had to change.

I'm really conscious about breaking that mold and proving that safety doesn't have to be a bad word. It should be the foundation of everything we do. I hear a lot of companies say that, but if you ran an anonymous poll of their crews, I'm not always sure what the office thinks matches what the guys are actually experiencing.

That's where being embedded with our clients makes all the difference. We're not just the third-party outside guys checking in once a month. We're really part of their business, getting to know everyone on the team.

It's All About Perspective

Here's something I use in all my trainings: perspective is everything. When I was 20 years old working construction in Morgantown, I saw things completely different than I do now at 41 with four kids.

Why do these guys get up every morning and do this hard work? It's not easy. They're doing it for their families, for everyone who depends on them. We don't talk about that enough on job sites, but we try to get people to open up about why we're doing this work. Because when you understand that side of it, it's so much easier to get buy-in for doing things the right way, the safe way.

The person next to you has people depending on them too. That changes how you think about safety protocols, doesn't it?

Making Safety Personal

Ultimately, this work is about people. It's about making sure everyone who shows up to work gets to go home to their families. When you frame it that way, safety isn't just compliance; it's caring about the human beings you work alongside every day.

That's why I'm grateful for this profession and for our clients who trust us to be part of their teams. We're not just managing risk; we're protecting what matters most.