National Safety Council helps raise awareness of the importance of keeping each other safe from the workplace to any place. Unintentional injuries to workers and their employers exceed $163.9 billion each year while causing great suffering among individuals and families.

“Preventable injuries, more commonly known as accidents, are the fourth leading cause of US deaths,” says Chuck Clairmont, Executive Director of the NDSC. “For the next four weeks in North Dakota, we can all take small steps to lead safer lives. Whether at home or at work lets get the ball rolling on safer practices that can soon become habit.”

NSC identified other ongoing safety issues to focus on each week during National Safety Month, including:

• Week 1: Emergency Preparedness – MSDs are the leading cause of workplace injury and cost billions each year in workers’ compensation and lost productivity.
• Week 2: Slips, Trips and Falls – Substance use is a safety issue at work, but did you know mental distress, stress, and fatigue are also impairing? Impairment poses a risk to every workplace, but addressing it in all its forms can directly support the safety and wellbeing of workers while saving organizations on costs.
• Week 3: Heat-Related Illness – In 2020 alone, more than 4 million workplace injuries required medical attention in the United States. Preventing injuries in the workplace can save lives, keep workers safer and save hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
• Week 4: Hazard Recognition – With falls being the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death, we must focus on reducing slips, trips and falls, falls from heights, and discuss how technology can play a role in saving lives.

Since its establishment by the National Safety Council in June 1996, organizations and individuals across the country have come together to join NSC in observance of National Safety Month, a dedication each June to bring extra attention to the safety issues faced from the workplace to anyplace. The latest available data reveals more than 4,400 preventable workplace deaths and 4.26 million injuries occurred in 2021. With transportation as one of the leading sectors for workplace fatalities, and NSC estimates showing more than 46,200 people, including workers, died in preventable traffic crashes in 2022, raising public awareness of the leading safety and health risks in order to decrease the number of preventable injuries and deaths in the United States is as important as ever.

“Since its start, the National Safety Council has been on a mission to promote safety and health,” said Lorraine Martin, president and CEO of NSC. “Regardless of whether you’re on the job, on the roads, in your community or at home, in order to be safe, you must be able to feel safe, and safety means something different for each of us; it’s personal. This June, the National Safety Council encourages employers and individuals alike to be safety role models on and off the job because it just may prevent an injury or save a life.”