Happy Retirement, Safety Ray!

The time has come for the one and only Safety Ray to take his well-earned retirement. He has changed the face of Keeley Companies, building a safety culture that prioritizes keeping our people safe so they can get home to their families every day. ZERO is the expectation and Ray has helped foster an environment in which all team members are empowered to call out unsafe acts to keep our incidents at ZERO. Over the years, many of Keeley’s business groups have spent long periods of time at ZERO, proving their dedication to our safety culture. Through a focus on education, the Safety Team strives to reach every Keeley’n across the nation, and this would not be possible without Safety Ray’s incredible leadership. Watch the video below to hear how Safety Ray has touched the lives of countless Keeley'ns.

Ray joined the Keeley family back in 2008 and has been instrumental in implementing strategic planning and an even stronger focus on safety. Throughout the years, his leadership has grown as he ends his career as the Senior VP of Risk Management and former member of the Keeley Companies Board.

Ray’s leadership has led to KeeleySafe becoming an award-winning culture, recognized across the industry. In 2020, we were recognized by the National AGC for our dedication to educating our people and empowering them to call out unsafe acts. In 2021, we were honored to receive the RAVS+ designation through ISNetworld. Keeley was nominated for RAVS+ by proving to the reviewers within ISNetworld that we have an organizational structure that supports our risk management program, our safety culture, and most importantly, supports the risk management program of the contractor that nominated us. 1% of all member contractors within ISNetworld have the RAVS+ designation; put that into context of over 60,000 contracts and it's a pretty amazing accomplishment.

When it comes to safety, we aren’t just talking about physical injuries. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we knew we had to do whatever it took to keep our people healthy. Our safety team works hard to travel and see every single Keeley’n on every jobsite across the nation, and we knew that we had to pivot to make sure that this was possible while keeping everyone safe. Our team put their heads together to come up with an innovative solution that will be utilized long after the pandemic is over, Virtual Jobsite Visits. These virtual jobsite visits have changed the way our Safety Team and Executives tackle important issues on our jobs. With the use of Microsoft Teams, our Safety Team and Executives can visit jobsites and interact with our world-class crews anywhere, and at any time. While our favorite way to connect with our field crews will always be in-person visits, this innovative, virtual solution has created a new way for partners and clients to easily get involved with the process. Team members working on projects thousands of miles away can now showcase their safe jobsite to the whole team, even if some team members are working at the office. Click here to learn more about our Virtual Jobsite Visits!

KeeleySafe values the importance of education and Safety Ray has always wanted to present safety topics in a way that were easy to digest and could be implemented in every aspect of life, from a jobsite to a home. That is why, with the help of Safety Ray, we created Awkward Conversations and Awkward Moments. For Awkward Conversations, Ray sat down with leaders from across Keeley Companies to discuss their roles and how safety plays a part in their day-to-day operations. Awkward Moments are short, monthly videos in which Ray discusses various safety topics that everyone can implement. These range from kitchen and fire safety to ride sharing and driving. All of these videos live on our YouTube channel for anyone to watch at any time. You can find them here! Our Safety Team also takes the time to lead various risk management courses including Defensive Driving, OSHA 10, OSHA 30, and more. These trainings are available to all Keeley’ns and most are even recorded and uploaded to our virtual Learning Management System so team members can view them at their own pace no matter where they are in the country. Currently, we have 135 safety training modules on the LMS in English, and 126 in Spanish!

At Keeley, we are a family and we know how important it is to get our people home to their families every single day. We love incorporating our families into our KeeleySafe culture, teaching them ways that they can stay safe in their lives. Every year, we dedicate an entire week to celebrating safety and we make sure to include our families in every way possible, whether that is through some awesome swag, new and improved resources, or fun activities. We end our annual Safety Week with a Safety Fair where we invite our families to join us for a day of fun and safety for all ages! We use this as an opportunity to teach our kids how they can be safe and instill this culture and mindset at an early age. It is one of our favorite weeks of the year and we are so proud of all our Keeley families for their continued support and dedication to safety. Additionally, we encourage all Keeley’ns to display their “My Why”. These badges include photos of partners, children, and pets to show team members why someone else chooses to be safe every day. Everyone’s “why” is different, but they are all equally important.

KeeleySafe would not be what it is today without Safety Ray. Ray, thank you for everything you have done for our people over the years. You have built an amazing team of safety professionals and we are so grateful for everything you have accomplished. We will proudly carry on your legacy!