Hundreds of jobsites around the country will take part in the annual Trench Safety Stand Down week to be held June 15-19.
Sponsored by the National Utility Contractors Association, this year’s event marks the first time it will be part of the inaugural Trench Safety Month.
“Making this June Trench Safety Month emphasizes the valuable training and experiences our members’ employees are gaining through the Trench Safety Stand Down week held annually in June throughout our industry,” says Doug Carlson, NUCA CEO.
NUCA says its stand down events have helped remind tens of thousands of workers of the dangers of trenching and excavation and the importance of following proper safety practices. (For more on the business and human costs of trench-collapse fatalities, see Equipment World’s special report Death by Trench.)
The stand down week consists of a series of organized events held by NUCA and member and nonmember industry professionals. Industry safety professionals hold safety training, educational seminars, live demonstrations of trench rescues and other activities related to trench safety, NUCA says.
This year, the association is devoting the entire month of June to getting the message out to the public and non-NUCA industry companies. NUCA reports that in 2019, more than 47,000 industry employees and first responders at over 4,500 jobsites, from 324 organizations, took part in the stand down. It cites statistics from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that 17 industry employees died in trench accidents in 2018.
For more details on the stand down, check out NUCA’s social media channels on Twitter (@NUCA_National), Facebook (NUCA1964), LinkedIn (NUCA National), Instagram (NUCA_National), and its YouTube channel (NUCA National). The social media hashtag is #TrenchSafetyMonth.