“Building Safety Starts with You!” is the theme for the International Code Council’s 43rd annual Building Safety Month. The educational and interactive campaign will take place in May to raise awareness about the importance of building codes in ensuring safety in the spaces we live, work, play and learn. Each year, ICC, its members and communities around the world celebrate building safety through proclamations, educational events and community gatherings.
This year’s campaign will explore how building safety impacts all on personal, local and global levels through weekly themes:
- May 1-7, “Building Safety Starts at Home”
- May 8-14, “Building Safety Professionals and You”
- May 15-21, “Prepare Your Community”
- May 22-28, “Advocate for Your Community”
- May 29-31, “Solving Challenges Together”
“Building safety is something many people take for granted,” says ICC Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “By becoming more aware of building codes and the important role they play in the built environment, we can take an active part in keeping our homes, schools, businesses, and communities safe and sustainable.”
The Council provides resources to promote Building Safety Month including safety tips, promotional graphics and lesson plans for elementary school students. More details about the 2023 Building Safety Month will be released in the coming months and posted at www.buildingsafetymonth.org.
OSHA CHIEF TAKES HIGHER FATALITY FIGURES TO HEART
In response to an upward, year-over-year trend in Bureau of Labor Statistics 2021 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data, U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker noted, “A one-year increase of nearly 9 percent in fatal work injuries serves as call to action for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, employers and other stakeholders to redouble our collective efforts to make our nation’s workplaces safer.
“In 2021, 5,190 workers suffered fatal work injuries, equating to one worker death in the U.S. every 101 minutes, including 653 Black workers, whose fatality rate hit an all-time high. Black and Latino workers had fatality rates disproportionately higher than their co-workers in 2021. These are deeply troubling facts.”
“Each of these deaths cruelly impacts these workers’ families, friends, co-workers and communities,” Assistant Secretary Parker concluded. “They are clear reminders of the important work that must be done. OSHA and its thousands of professionals across the nation are determined to enforce the law while working with employers, workers, labor unions, trade associations and other stakeholders to ensure that every worker in the U.S. ends their workday safely.”