The International Code Council has begun its 40th annual celebration of Building Safety Month, this year promoting the notion of “Safer Buildings, Safer Communities, Safer World.”
Each year, the global event aims to raise awareness of the importance of building safety, as well as educate the public about the importance of building codes in maintaining safety and resilience. This has become especially pertinent as Building Safety Month overlaps the COVID-19 crisis, and homes have become more important centers of daily life.
“As society continues to evolve and we face new and unprecedented challenges, it becomes imperative that our building codes and standards are planned with an eye toward the future,” says Sara Yerkes, the Code Council’s senior vice president of government relations. “With people spending more time indoors, creating safe, reliable and healthy buildings has never been more important. Our goal through Building Safety Month is to bring attention to the effectiveness of modern codes and the code officials who maintain them.”
“Safer Buildings, Safer Communities, Safer World” aims to emphasize the importance of compliance and modern codes for issues such as disaster preparedness, water safety, and professional education.
Week one – starting May 1st and running through May 10th – will focus on Disaster Preparedness and making buildings more resilient in the face of wildfires, earthquakes, storms, floods, and tornadoes.
Week two, May 11th-17th, will focus on Water Safety. Resiliency, Sustainability, and Innovation will be the focus of week three, May 18th-24th, and week four – through May 31st – will cover Training the Next Generation.
“This is a milestone year for Building Safety Month – the Code Council, its members and partners have been celebrating building codes and the role of code officials during May for 40 years,” says Greg Wheeler, CBO and president of the Code Council Board of Directors. “In difficult times, like our current pandemic, code officials remain essential to keeping us all safe and protected within the buildings we spend most of our time. Regardless of the circumstances, safe building will always be important.”
Additional information about the campaign is available at buildingsafetymonth.org.
