In an industrial market that continues to grow rapidly, Reeves Young Industrial empowers its clients by providing a fully integrated team of construction professionals with self-perform capabilities and the technical expertise to deliver projects quickly, safely, and with quality to meet ever-increasing market demand.
Entrepreneurs play a vital role in transforming our lives by disrupting markets and revolutionizing industries. We are thrilled that Eric Young, CEO of Reeves Young is to be recognized as a finalist for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2026 Southeast program. As the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs, the Entrepreneur Of The Year award has been at the forefront of identifying game-changing business leaders. The program has honored the inspirational leadership of such entrepreneurs as Sheila Mikhail of AskBio; Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC; Allison and Stephen Ellsworth of Poppi, Jodi Berg of Vitamix and Eric Yuan of Zoom; We’re honored to have Eric Young recognized among so many other ambitious business leaders in the Southeast. Follow us along on our journey to the regional awards celebration on June 18!
Our team sat down with Industrial Operations Manager, Chris Smith, and Senior Safety Manager, Aaron Lease, to talk about what ‘Safety’ means at Reeves Young.
At Reeves Young, our commitment to safety is a journey of continuous improvement, and that dedication takes on even greater significance as we come to a close on Construction Safety Week 2026.
The theme for this year’s Safety Week, “All In Together,” perfectly aligns with our Safety culture of care, “Work Safe, Home Safe.” It serves as a reminder that staying safe requires a collective effort to Recognize, Respond, and Respect the hazards inherent in our industry. While we’ve put an emphasis on these topics as part of national campaign for safety, it isn’t just a trend for Reeves Young. Safety is our singular priority.
Our Safety culture, Work Safe, Home Safe message is simple: it’s for those we love and those who love us. It has been built to be a steadfast reminder to each employee and subcontractor that our number one goal is getting everyone home safely at the end of the day.
“Safety is compassion,” says Industrial Operations Manager, Chris Smith. “When I think about safety, I think about the families that could be forever affected if we don’t plan the safest way possible to complete our daily tasks.” Upon onboarding, each new employee prints a photo of their loved one(s) to place in their safety vest pocket, for everyone to see. This simple step has made giant leaps in recognizing Reeves Young’s safety culture both on the field and through management.
Senior Safety Manager, Aaron Lease, shares, “We carry a photo of our reason to Why I Work Safe as a reminder of the greater importance to why we are here each and every day. Why we put in the long hours, days and nights, phone calls, emails, and drive time is all because of that photo in our vest,” he comments. “For me, it’s my wife and 2 beautiful daughters. To someone else, it may be their pets, parents, grandparents, hobbies, etc.”
“Whatever your ‘Why’, we all carry that daily reminder for ourselves, as well as, a reminder for the men and women that we are working next to everyday – that we have something to go home to,” Lease continues.
Across more than 200 projects, tasks, timelines, and project-focused goals are always changing, but one thing that is constant is our spotlight on safety. One habit that every employee should adopt immediately is the ability to ‘think’ before you ‘do’. Slow down production and implement a plan. “Thinking requires a plan, and a plan drives a means to identify risk” Smith emphasizes. “Critical thinking must happen every day.”
“I have stopped work for safety many times, and for a wide variety of reasons,” Smith says. “We have empowered our team to know they have authority to shut down or send home people not following our standards. This happens regularly to ensure that messages are received. We care about people, those who work for Reeves Young and our valuable trade partners.”
Safety tent with protective gear and cooling down supplies at the annual Reeves Young Kickball Tournament
Safety expectations extend beyond Reeves Young employees; they apply to every person on every jobsite. Each day begins with a dedicated safety meeting, where teams align on the work ahead and clearly define expectations. As Smith notes, these conversations focus on specific safety topics and set a direct, intentional tone for the day.
Project leadership also emphasizes the importance of participation during morning huddles. “A safety meeting is only as good as the engagement that you get from the individuals that are a part of the meeting,” Lease explains.
He adds that the effectiveness of these meetings depends on how they’re led. When a Foreman or Superintendent outlines the day’s plan and potential risks without inviting input, the value of the discussion is limited. In contrast, “If you have a leader that is engaging his or her crew members, asking for questions, assigning responsibilities, encouraging crew members to use their voice in the planning of the day, you will often find that the meeting is much more productive.” That collaboration not only strengthens communication but also ensures everyone has a role in building a safer jobsite. Lease notes that when it comes to safety, failing to plan is planning to fail.
Mental health is just as critical as physical safety in the construction industry, yet it has historically been overlooked. The tides, however, are changing. As Smith shares, “The construction industry has come a long way in recognizing how important mental health is in our business. The biggest step was having the conversation about this, and we’re on a very good path, as we continue to talk about this daily now and check in with our teammates, so they know we care.”
At Reeves Young, that commitment is backed by action. The company provides dedicated mental health resources and encourages employees to fully utilize the benefits available to them – reinforcing that support is not only accessible but encouraged.
Lease echoes this progress, noting, “As an organization, I believe we are headed in the right direction in raising awareness to mental health and its impacts in the construction industry.” He also emphasizes that there is more ahead, “I am looking forward to what more we can do in this area,” with a continued focus on expanding efforts and strengthening support in this critical area of safety.
Safety at Reeves Young is always evolving and improving. From planning and communication to training and accountability, the foundation of the program remains rooted in people and purpose. Lease looks forward to building greater consistency in what Reeves Young is already doing well, while continuing to strengthen a culture where safety is first priority and second nature. That commitment is what drives the company forward. “Because at the end of the day, our people are most important,” Lease explains. “Planning, communicating, training, and continuing to build a culture of care and personal responsibility is what we will keep on doing.”
Smith echoes the sentiment, “As we have taken huge strides in what Reeves Young safety looks like, we have a long road ahead. We must continue to build our program.” At Reeves Young, everyone is a part of the Safety team. We continue to build awareness, commit to training, and encourage speaking up about safety.
By staying “All In Together,” we ensure that the most important part of any project – our people – always make it home safely. At the end of the day, that is the only goal that truly matters. Work Safe, Home Safe, All In Together.
Additional Construction Safety Week 2026 resources are available here.
The construction industry is imperative to the growth of the economy, to society, and to the community. From ensuring your water makes it to your faucet, making sure the bridges are structured to stand, paving new roads from NYC to LA, to building your new favorite restaurant, pickleball courts, or hotel, the construction industry is vital to our progression as a civilization.
In 2024, there were 1,032 fatalities in the construction industry, not including suicide as a cause of death1, and many of those deaths were preventable. Construction-related injuries happen frequently and can be significant and long-lasting, such as hearing loss, mobility problems, and respiratory issues2.
As we all can predict, the 2.1 trillion-dollar industry3 isn’t going anywhere–and we might be biased, but we don’t want it to. Construction employs 8 million people3 and provides various services that are integral to a continuously developing community.
Although these fatalities, time and time again, are preventable, without a clear focus on safety in construction, these deaths and injuries will continue to happen.
So, the question stands: how do we minimize risk, injuries, and fatalities, while maintaining construction, growth, and innovation?
The answer to this question is simple: a focus on safety.
There are many laws put in place by the U.S. Department of Labor (carried out by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)) as well as required rules and regulations put forth by the general contractors themselves to ensure safety on jobsites. These are not guidelines but strict standards that all employees and subcontractors must adhere to.
Furthermore, there are resources available from nationally recognized organizations, such as Construction Safety Week– where general contractors unite to strengthen the industry standards and culture around safety. Reeves Young, Senior Project Manager in our Heavy Civil division Banks Folsom says, “[Construction Safety Week] is a time to reset, reflect, and learn about our safety achievements and shortfalls over the past year, and a time to plan how to make our working and personal lives safer in the future.”
At Reeves Young, our focus– the end-all, be-all– is getting you home safely to your family. We remind ourselves and our peers every day, “Why I Work Safe” with the pictures of loved ones in our safety vest pockets.
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With all hands on deck and projects that are moving quickly, a million things are happening at once, and many things on a jobsite can get taken for granted. Folsom reminds us that slowing down and considering the ‘worst case scenario’ of each task you are performing will make you more mindful of the risks at hand and how to mitigate them. He says, “A near miss is to be treated just as seriously as an incident. One of the worst things you can have in your mind is, ‘Well, I got away with it last time!’”
For us at Reeves Young, construction safety takes precedence. Folsom says, “Every jobsite is different, and it can change drastically from day to day. Assessing each task individually instead of globally as one trade, or as one project, is a good way to ensure you aren’t being complacent with safety.”
Each day on site begins with a safety huddle, a refresh to each person on site to regard safety as their number one priority: to get home safely, and to get their co-workers home safely, too. On Reeves Young jobsites, you will see our commitment to safety through our safety pillar displays and key reminders to Work Safe, Home Safe—our tried and true Safety motto.
Our Safety Meetings are not your standard-meeting-that-could-have-been-an-email; these are dedicated time slots each morning, on every job site, to ensure safety plans are elaborated on through each task at hand. The goal is to engage the team and to provide opportunities for each person to speak up about foreseen safety risks. Though it might seem simple, this time allows for risks to be brought to light that others might not have noticed. Every day, thoughtful safety measures are reestablished and reinforced. “If [the task] cannot get done safely, it cannot get done at all.” Folsom continues, “This may mean taking the longer route to complete a task, but it is the correct route that will be the plan every time.”
One small action that all general contractors can adopt into their safety practices is maintaining a clean and tidy site. A clean site does more than make your project presentable; it can help expose potential hazards that otherwise might not have been seen.
When asked about the future of safety at Reeves Young, Folsom replies, “[We will] continue to incorporate a strong safety culture amongst our teams, from the preconstruction level, to support departments, to the field.”
1 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026, February 19). Table 3. fatal occupational injuries for selected occupations, 2020-24 – 2024 A01 results. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.t03.htm
2 Finnity, J., & Harlan, L. (2025, May 7). 34 Key Construction Safety Statistics. Procore. https://www.procore.com/library/construction-safety-statistics
3 Associated General Contractors of America. (2026). Construction data. Construction Data. https://www.agc.org/learn/construction-data#:~:text=Construction%20is%20a%20major%20contributor,worth%20of%20structures%20each%20year.
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