National Safety Month, established by the National Safety Council in 1996, is observed every June to raise awareness about preventable injuries. This article is designed for merit shop construction leaders in North and South Carolina, providing a comprehensive guide to leveraging National Safety Month 2026 as a catalyst for year-round safety improvements. We’ll cover the weekly themes, practical implementation steps, and how ABC Carolinas supports contractors in building a safer workplace. National Safety Month matters for this audience because it offers a structured opportunity to address the leading causes of injuries and fatalities in construction, foster a proactive safety culture, and ensure every worker returns home safely.
National Safety Month is a national safety initiative created by the National Safety Council in 1996 to bring extra attention to unintentional injuries, deaths, and leading safety and health risks at work, on the road, and at home. Historically, National Safety Month has emphasized continuous improvement in safety practices, and organizations use it to prioritize hazard identification and cultivate a safety culture.
For merit shop construction leaders in North and South Carolina, this annual observance is more than public awareness. It is a practical framework for addressing safety issues faced by crews, drivers, supervisors, and subcontractors on every job site. According to the National Safety Council, NSC provides educational resources including tip sheets and posters for safety awareness, and NSC members receive additional resources. Contractors can also join NSC, use OSHA guidance, and follow the ASSP Safety 2026 conference, June 15–17, in Anaheim.
Treat June 1–30 as a safety improvement sprint that reinforces the importance of using the month to reduce hazards and injuries. Pick two or three goals:
Review OSHA logs, training records, emergency procedures, safety and health policies, and near misses to assess and manage workplace risk. Track leading indicators such as JSAs, inspections, toolbox talks, and corrective actions. Effective safety programs can increase employee morale and productivity because workers feel safe, communication improves, employee engagement grows, and people are safer in the field, producing better work.
ABC Carolinas can support this work through expert construction safety training, peer events, safety tools, apprenticeship programs, and education for employers who want practical tips, not theory.
Week 1 promotes Moving Safety Forward by focusing on innovation in safety culture. This is the week to build safety engagement at all organizational levels, and ABC Carolinas’ STEP Safety Management System and safety education initiatives offer a model for structured improvement.
Recommended activities:
Participants engage in activities such as safety stand-downs and training sessions. Emergency drills and CPR classes are recommended activities during National Safety Month, along with first aid refreshers and evacuation practice.
Leaders should visit jobsites in high-visibility green PPE, ask workers what could hurt them today, and follow up. Align project manager scorecards with leading safety metrics, not only budget and schedule. Communication is key and essential for safety engagement at all organizational levels.
Week 2 addresses Staying Safe on the Roads to reduce traffic crashes. This matters in the Carolinas, where construction workers drive between shops, vendor yards, I-77, I-85, I-95, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville, Charleston, and rural projects.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of work-related deaths. In 2023, 44,450 people died in motor vehicle crashes, adding to thousands of deaths in the United States tied to roadway incidents each year. Drowsy driving contributes to about 10% of motor vehicle crashes. From 2011 to 2022, 1,462 fatal injuries occurred at road construction sites. Forty-four percent of fatalities at road construction sites are struck-by incidents, and 44% of occupational fatalities at road construction sites involve struck-by incidents.
Use this week to:
Build around three pillars: policy, training, and monitoring. The policy includes MVR checks, driver qualifications, distracted-driving rules, and disciplinary steps. Training belongs in orientation and weekly talks. Use research to shape driver-safety training and monitoring decisions. Monitoring reviews crashes, near misses, insurance claims, speeding, and hard braking. Fewer crashes protect lives, reduce downtime, and improve client confidence.
Week 3 focuses on Promoting Holistic Worker Health to address total wellbeing. Construction safety is affected by physical health, mental health, emotional well-being, fatigue, heat, stress, and overexertion.
Carolinas crews face humidity, long drives, overtime, financial pressure, and demanding schedules. These health risks can create distraction, substance misuse, and injury. NIOSH provides a Small Business Handbook for workplace safety, and its Total Worker Health approach helps even small contractors address safety and health risks.
Use this week to:
Train foremen to talk about mental health, stress, and fatigue without judgment. Post discreet hotline cards in break areas and trucks. Create a buddy system so employees know when to escalate concerns. This focus is vital to keeping workers safe.
Week 4 targets Preventing Slips, Trips, and Falls in workplaces and homes. For construction, preventing slips and trips includes both same-level hazards and falls from height.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death for adults 65+. In 2013, about 2.5 million nonfatal falls were treated in emergency departments. In 2022, falls from elevation caused 81% of fatal slips and falls. In 2022, falls from elevation caused 81% of fatal slips, trips, and falls. Falls represent 81% of all fatal slips, trips, and falls in 2022. Construction workers account for nearly 49% of fatal falls.
Use this week to:
Walk each site and mark every exposure at six feet or more: roofs, shafts, mezzanines, leading edges, and ladder access points. Verify OSHA training, tag defective gear, assign corrective actions, and set due dates.
National Safety Month should not end on June 30. Build a 12-month calendar:
Track lagging indicators such as recordables, vehicle crashes, injuries, and deaths, and leading indicators such as inspections, JSAs, training hours, and near-miss reports. In 2022, preventable work deaths totaled 4,695 in the U.S. Preventable injuries are the third leading cause of death in the United States. In 2023, there were 223,000 preventable workplace deaths. In 2023, there were 223,000 preventable workplace injury-related deaths.
ABC Carolinas is the regional resource for merit shop construction safety. Our chapter focuses on advancing construction excellence across the Carolinas, helping members win work and deliver projects ethically, safely, and profitably through OSHA 10/30, competent person training, fall protection, scaffold courses, customized onsite sessions, safety roundtables, advocacy, and apprenticeship programs that teach safe practices from day one.
Register for free National Safety Council materials, schedule one stand-down each week, assign a leader to each theme, and document lessons learned. Then contact ABC Carolinas for help building a year-long safety calendar that addresses roadway safety, slips, trips, and falls, holistic health, and continuous improvement across your workplace.
Plan one 30–60-minute stand-down each week, plus 5–15-minute daily toolbox talks. Consistency matters more than hours.
No. Many firms assign an owner, superintendent, or project manager as the safety champion and use tools from NSC, OSHA, NIOSH, ASSP, and ABC Carolinas.
Invite them to talks, include requirements in preconstruction meetings, and provide brief multilingual resources on hazards, falls, vehicles, and site rules.
Use OSHA construction guidance, NIOSH resources, NSC materials, and ABC Carolinas training to increase awareness of the leading risks and keep crews ready.
