MOORESVILLE, Indiana, April 1, 2015 – Jim Satterly came to a career in workplace safety by accident. His own unfortunate industrial accident.
In 1971, Satterly, Safety Director at Equipment Technologies, suffered an eye injury while operating a lathe at the North Carolina company where he then was working. “I was running that piece of machinery and a part broke,” he said. “A piece of steel came through my safety glasses and went into my eye.”
Doctors were not able to save Satterly’s eye. In subsequent years, however, Satterly has saved many co-workers – including employees at Equipment Technologies, a farm machinery manufacturer – from serious injuries. Satterly’s outstanding work as a safety manager has earned him the 2015 Safety Director of the Year award from Gregory & Appel Insurance, Equipment Technologies’ insurance carrier.
Satterly was selected from among dozens of award nominees representing Gregory & Appel’s nearly 1,300 business clients. He received the award this past week during a ceremony at Gregory & Appel’s Indianapolis offices.
“Jim has inspired and led Equipment Technologies to a culture of safety that is sustained year after year,” said Mike Salazar, Gregory & Appel’s Risk Management Consultant and Manager. “Equipment Technologies has reduced claims and their worker’s compensation under Jim’s leadership, since he joined the company in 2005.”
Satterly, of Monrovia, Ind., began his Equipment Technologies (ET) career in the company’s Quality Control department and was promoted to safety director in 2008. He established a safety program that includes pre-hiring drug screenings, a return-to-work process for employees who’ve suffered on-the-job injuries and monthly online safety training modules for all ET personnel. He also investigates and records all workplace accidents and injuries, maintains ET’s compliance with U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Safety regulations, and works with Gregory & Appel on employee injury issues and claims.
Satterly’s efforts have significantly improved ET’s safety record. As an example, between October 2007 and April 2012, no ET employee missed work because of a work-related injury – a span of 1,539,656 business hours.
“All of us here at Equipment Technologies are very proud of Jim and pleased to see him recognized with this award,” said Brent Stiers, ET’s Chief Financial Officer. “Jim possesses a rare combination of technical knowledge, experience, interpersonal skills and common sense that makes him extremely effective. Most importantly, he cares deeply about our people, the company and how he performs his job. Jim is a true professional in every sense of the word and we are fortunate to have him at ET.”
Satterly said he’s honored to receive the award but credits ET employees for embracing the company’s safety initiatives.
“The safety program we have here is not a one-man show by any means,” he said. “The reason I received this award is because everybody in the company is a part of what we’re trying to do. We’re in this together, and we’re a family. We care about each other.” Equipment Technologies builds Apache-brand self-propelled agricultural sprayers at its Mooresville assembly plant. The sprayers are marketed through a vast dealership network in the United States, Canada, Australia and Ukraine. Apaches come in three models: the 750-gallon AS720, 1,000-gallon AS1020/1025 and 1,200-gallon AS1220.
About Equipment Technologies
ET Works is a manufacturer of self-propelled sprayers. Headquartered in Mooresville, Indiana, ET creates Apache Sprayers and Bruin Sprayers for distribution throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and C.I.S. Learn more about Apache Sprayers at apachesprayers.com and Bruin Sprayers at bruinsprayers.com.
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Emily Nichols
Lessing-Flynn
515-274-9271
emily@lessingflynn.com
