- Sarah Lindsey
A Guide to Safety Week
Be present. Be focused. Be safe. Those 3 sentences make up the theme for the May 2021 Safety Week. They encompass the goal of construction companies and others to promote mental and physical safety on all construction sites. To help get you ready for Safety Week in May we created this guide to Construction Safety Week.
How it began:
Construction safety week began in 2014 and had the mission to “inspire everyone in the industry to be leaders in safety” according to a statement from the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI) and the Incident and Injury Free (IIF) group. Later, in 2016, safety week was formally branded and came out with its official mission statement which includes: thanking workers for supporting safety, increasing awareness of the importance of being committed to safety every day, encouraging others to strengthen safety culture, and conducting on-site safety awareness activities.
Who can celebrate it?
Everyone! Safety week was designed to unite all different kinds of construction and work groups with the idea that safety needed to become a number one priority. Today more than 70 national and global groups participate in safety week. You can celebrate safety week by working to build a stronger and safer industry, wherever you work.
How to celebrate safety week:
Spread the word on social media by sharing more about construction safety week and how your company is practicing safety measures. Have some fun on social media and invite employees to participate and even consider asking a few to take over the social media account for the day.
Host a safety forum at your company. Invite employees to share any concerns they may have about safety on-site and ask how you can improve safety measures. This is a great opportunity to show your team that you care!
Gift out new safety gear! Nothing shows more that you value your team’s safety more than the gift of new safety gear. Consider giving new vests, reflective shirts or hats, or even new hard hats. For ideas on what safety gear to give, check out our Pinterest page.
Offer a safety training workshop or class. This may not be exciting to everyone but in the event of a crisis, it will be much appreciated! A properly trained crew is a safe crew.
Participate in the Safety Stand-Down. Did you know that construction falls are the leading cause of death among construction employees? Take a minute to discuss safety and how to prevent falls in the Safety Stand-Down. Share how you are conducting your safety stand-down on social media with the hashtag #StandDown4Safety.
As the construction safety week board says “we are stronger and safer together”. Taking the time to celebrate safety week will help you to re-energize and refocus your team so that you can continue to shape communities.
*This article was inspired by information from the Construction Safety Week 2021 website. For more resources and tips on how to celebrate construction safety week visit their site here: https://www.constructionsafetyweek.com/