The month of April offers ample opportunities for safety emphasis and awareness. It is vital for employers to prioritize safety; this month is loaded with ways to communicate that commitment with your community and employees. One resource an employer may utilize to stay informed of options is the Safety Observance Calendar offered by the National Safety Council; it can be found on their website.
The National Safety Council is a mission-based organization focused on eliminating the leading causes of preventable death and injury. NSC helps employers create a culture of safety that will make people safer. Some of the safety events they are highlighting in April include:
- Distracted Driving Awareness Month: April
- National Window Safety Week: April 6-12
- National Work Zone Awareness Week: April 21-25
- Workers' Memorial Day: April 28
Distracted Driving Awareness Month
On average, nine people a day are killed in distracted driving crashes, but a few simple steps can reduce the risks for yourself and those around you. Sometimes we forget that when you’re behind the wheel, your only job is to drive. National Safety Council is sponsoring this event to help us remember.
Being an attentive and alert driver prevents most crashes that could lead to unintentional injury and death. With the wide use of smartphones in the United States, distracted driving has become an important traffic safety topic. However, distraction while driving can be a result of phone use, but also could be interacting with passengers, eating, daydreaming, and focus on navigation devices. All types of distractions can contribute to crashes. Distracting tasks can affect drivers in different ways and can be categorized as visual, manual, and cognitive distraction. April is a great month to place an emphasis on safe driving practices. At National Safety Compliance we offer a variety of Driving Safety resources to help equip workers to recognize the importance of safe undistracted driving.
National Window Safety Week
Window Safety Task Force sponsors this important week to help everyone understand the role of windows in escaping a fire or other emergency, and to learn how to safeguard against window falls. Window Safety Week, the first full week in April, coincides with the arrival of spring, when people naturally want to open the windows and let in fresh air. The goal of this observance is twofold: for families to understand the role of windows in escaping a fire or other emergency and to learn how to safeguard against window falls.
National Work Zone Awareness Week
National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The key message is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones. This year NWZAW is April 21-25, hosted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT).
This event takes place across the United States, with partnerships between state departments of transportation (DOT), national road safety organizations, government agencies, private companies and individuals. Beginning in 1997, a group of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) staff members wanted to dedicate a week to raise awareness about work zone safety before spring construction projects began that year. This event was so successful that two years later, in 1999 the California Department of Transportation began its statewide campaign, “Slow for the Cone Zone.” In 1998 and 1999 VDOT approached the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) with a desire to launch the first official NWZAW.
The first official NWZAW kickoff event was held in 2000 in Springfield, Va. The site where the kickoff event is held now alternates each year from being hosted in the Washington, D.C., area to different locations across the United States. State transportation departments can submit applications to host the event on those alternate years.
Goals for National Work Zone Awareness Week:
- Initiate efforts to raise awareness of the need for more caution when driving through work zones to decrease fatalities and injuries.
- Establish and promote a uniform set of safety tips.
- The value of training and importance of best practices in regard to work zone safety would be promoted among individuals in the private sector, industry, and roadway workers.
- Reach out to both roadway workers and contractors to communicate possible effects of motorists’ behavior in response to traffic delays and advise on what steps might possibly be taken to lessen negative behavior.
- Outreach efforts would be made to work with entities involved with work zone safety and to form partnerships.
Workers' Memorial Day
Nearly 55 years ago on April 28, Workers Memorial Day, the Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect, promising every worker the right to a safe job. Unfortunately, the number of preventable workplace deaths has increased 5% in the last few years. Fatalities should never be the cost of doing business. In recognition of Workers' Memorial Day on April 28, plan to join others in remembering those who have died in preventable workplace incidents.
Remember Those We've Lost, Pledge to Work Safely:
- Plan and Share Your Workers Memorial Day Event.
- Create and share a photo and storyboard campaign on social media to remember workers who have been killed on the job.
- Invite the press to your Workers Memorial Day events to increase public awareness of the dangers working people face on the job.
- Hold a candlelight vigil, memorial service or moment of silence to remember those who have died on the job and highlight job safety problems in your community.
- Organize a campaign to call for stronger safety and health protections.
- Create a new memorial site at a workplace or in a community where workers have been killed on the job.
- Organize an event at your workplace to stand together to protect the fundamental right to a safe job for every worker.
- Host events with members of Congress in their districts. Involve injured workers and family members who can talk firsthand about the need for strong safety and health protections. Invite local religious and community leaders and other allies to participate in the event.
- Conduct workshops to train and empower workers to report job safety hazards and exercise workplace rights. Invite union members, nonunion workers and community allies to participate.