With the official start of summer upon us, now is the time to start planning for Safe + Sound Week which is being held August 12-18, 2024. This annual event is sponsored by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the National Safety Council (NSC), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and many other organizations.
Safe + Sound week is intended to recognize the successes of workplace health and safety programs and raise awareness about the value of proactive programs. Workplaces are encouraged to hold events and activities that highlight their safety program and identify opportunities for new safety initiatives.
Why participate?
Participating in the program is a great opportunity to recognize your safety successes and show your commitment to safety. OSHA emphasizes that successful safety and health programs can proactively identify and manage workplace hazards before they cause injury or illness while at the same time improving sustainability and the bottom line. Participating in Safe + Sound Week can help get your program started or energize an existing one!
Feedback about Safe + Sound Week from previous participants included that holding the event at their workplace helped create a culture of safety and let employees know their ideas were welcome. Other benefits mentioned were that participating in Safe + Sound Week encouraged collaboration between employers and employees and showed stakeholders how safety is a fundamental pillar of business.
Who should participate?
Businesses of any size and in any type of industry looking for an opportunity to recognize their commitment to safety are encouraged to participate. Last year more than 3,900 businesses registered to participate, including some local life science companies.
How can my company participate?
Companies can either participate privately, or officially register on OSHA’s Safe + Sound Week webpage. The webpage has lots of great ideas for Safe + Sound Week activities, many of which don’t take a lot of time to plan for.
Resources are provided on developing safety and health programs, management leadership, worker participation, and finding and fixing workplace hazards, They include webinars, course offerings, brochures, management leadership worksheet templates, and much more.
Safe + Sound Week has been a huge success for Safety Partners’ clients who have participated in previous years! Some ideas from events we’ve helped clients plan include:
- Holding a mock spill drill
- Scheduling a fire drill
- Offering hands-on fire extinguisher training
- Planning safety-related games including safety bingo, a safety scavenger hunt, and “Name that Chemical!”
- Scheduling ergonomics training sessions and ergonomics lab and office equipment demonstrations
- Organizing a demonstration on airflow in a biosafety cabinet and the importance of not creating turbulence
- Providing refresher safety training using a new format such as Safety Jeopardy
Safe + Sound week is a great opportunity to raise awareness about your safety program in a fun and engaging way! For additional information, or for assistance with planning for this year’s event, please contact us!
This blog was written by Beth Graham, Safety Partners’ Director of Quality, Research, and Training.
