May is Building Safety Month
May is Building Safety Month
On April 30, the White House proclaimed the month of May as National Building Safety Month. The President recognized the vital efforts of building professionals, who make the nation’s buildings stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient. The proclamation also highlighted the launch of the National Initiative to Advance Building Codes in 2022 and the ongoing efforts FEMA to help communities devastated by floods, fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes to rebuild more safely by incentivizing the adoption of modern building codes.
The International Code Council (ICC) is leading its 44th annual Building Safety Month campaign this year. The campaign raises awareness about building safety and reinforces the need for the adoption of modern, regularly updated building codes. It also helps individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures.
The theme for 2024 is “Mission Possible,” because building safety is a collective mission achievable through collaborative efforts. The ICC has organized the campaign around specific themes for each week of the month. Short videos and shareable social media materials for each week are posted on the ICC’s campaign website. FEMA is participating in the campaign and has released video shorts that amplify the weekly themes:
- Week 1 Understanding the Mission with Jason Scott.
- Week 2 Preparing a Building Safety Plan with Tom Glen.
- Week 3 Learning from the Pros with Ed Laatsch.
- Week 4 Engaging Your Community with Jon Foster.
- Week 5 Celebrating Successes in Building Safety with Laura Duff.
In week 1, FEMA featured several resources for public safety officials, homeowners and occupants, and children on the basics of building codes. These included FEMA’s latest national statistics on building code adoption. FEMA released its 2024 Building Code Adoption Tracking (BCAT) Fact Sheets in February. Each Fact Sheet provides the latest statistics on the percentage of communities who have adopted hazard-resistant building codes for each state in that region. Additionally, FEMA has released several educational videos for officials involved in adopting and enforcing building codes that serve as a companion to the Building Codes Adoption Playbook.
In week 2, the ICC highlighted several resources for communities to prepare a building safety plan to keep themselves and their loved ones safe and to limit damages to buildings from natural hazards. FEMA highlighted many of its resources for making a plan ahead of a disaster, including the FEMA App, how to get emergency alerts, and the complete set of Hazard Information Sheets available on Ready.gov.
Sign up for FEMA’s Building Science newsletter to receive updates highlighting FEMA’s Building Safety Month resources for Weeks 3, 4, and 5, and other news from FEMA Building Science throughout the year.
Visit the ICC’s Building Safety Month website and FEMA’s Building Science website for many more resources to share within your communities this month and year-round. Use hashtag #BuildingSafetyMonth2024 to share on social media.
