Meet Chad Crews, SHE Advisor and 2024 Rising Star of Safety

As a Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) advisor, Chad Crews travels to branches performing routine walk-around visits, speaking with employees and looking for areas where a safer work environment might be created.

“My job affords me the ability to work directly with employees at the branch level to address areas where they feel unsafe and succeed in finding solutions to eliminate the hazard,” Chad says about his work with the Carolinas Retail Division of Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Working in retail operations for most of his career provides Chad with a unique perspective and valuable experience that he uses to better relate to the struggles employees face daily.

While a typical day for him can be relatively straightforward, an incident can change his plans completely. While incidents aren’t common, when they happen, Retail SHE Advisors like Chad step into action to provide support and guidance. They work closely with branch and division management to mitigate any effects of an incident, aid injured workers through our company processes, and complete incident investigations to learn from what happened.

“If someone is injured at work or involved in a serious incident, it affects not only their future but the future of their family,” says Chad. “Failure in my role is not acceptable. Many futures will be affected should I fail or fall short of expectations.”

Audrie Himel, Senior Manager, SHE Retail, South Region and Chad’s supervisor, underscores Chad’s commitment to safety, which extends beyond his duties at work.

“After being called to respond to a recent fire in an agricultural facility, Chad worked on behalf of Nutrien Ag Solutions to educate more than 300 first responders across the southeastern US regarding safety in Agricultural Hazardous Materials (Ag HazMat),” explains Audrie. “Through targeted training sessions, first responders are equipped with skills to handle pesticides, combustible materials, and other hazards. Nutrien is enhancing our community's ability to respond effectively to agricultural emergencies by fostering collaboration and preparedness.”

With a such a high stakes job, you might imagine Chad to be an adrenaline junkie in his spare time.

“While I thrive on the excitement of being the ‘one who brings calm to chaos,’ after the excitement has passed, I enjoy sitting on the porch with my wife, watching our kids and dog play in the yard.”