Joe Whiteman, director of safety services The Voice Newsletter April 2022

Originally started in 2014 when a group of construction firms from the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI), and the Incident and Injury Free Forum (IIF) got together to create an opportunity to influence and celebrate safety. As the years passed, recognition and participation have grown, and “Safety Week” has become an opportunity to help companies strengthen their safety cultures and reaffirm safety commitment.

Each Safety Week has a theme to help raise awareness of a particular message. The theme for May 2-6, 2022, is "Connected-Supported-Safe”, encouraging the industry to focus on cultivating a supportive work environment where we are better aware of the health and wellbeing of those around us.

Resources for Safety Week 2022 are available at constructionsafetyweek.com. They include daily toolbox talks, videos, a mental wellness field guide, signs and banners which are also available in Spanish. All you need to do is commit to setting aside a few minutes a day to have a discussion with crews, utilizing those tools. This is a great opportunity for you to hear what is affecting your crews, and recommendations on how to help them work more safely.

Safety Week also includes a video highlighting how helmets have dramatically reduced the frequency and severity of traumatic brain injuries and fatalities on construction sites. The video is approximately five minutes and provides compelling testimony from contractors on the advantages of this type of head protection. Lastly, I want to encourage you not only to participate in Safety Week, but to please share your experiences with us. We would like to post images of your standdowns, etc. on ASCC social media. If you have questions or need help getting started, please feel free to reach out to me at jwhiteman@ascconline.org.