Since 2017, OSHA has dedicated a week in mid-August to help promote the effectiveness of proactive workplace safety and health programs. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event encouraging organizations to highlight successful safety initiatives, share ideas, and implement improvements.
The OSHA program aims to help businesses foster a culture of safety by offering information, resources, activities, and ideas on how to keep their workers safe. Safe + Sound Week is part of a broader, year-round campaign by OSHA to encourage the development and implementation of effective safety and health programs.
This year’s focus is on Emergency Preparedness and Response for both the workplace and home. OSHA’s 2025 program emphasizes the importance of having robust emergency plans in place to protect workers in various scenarios, and will highlight OSHA’s three core components of any successful Safety Program:
- Management Leadership
- Worker Participation
- Finding and Fixing Hazards
Who should participate and why?
Any organization looking for ways to acknowledge their commitment to safety and health should participate—in 2024, more than 5,000 employers hosted events and scheduled special programs to raise awareness about worker safety and health. Whether your workplace has a well-established H&S Program or you are just getting started, Safe + Sound Week offers a chance to dedicate time and energy toward developing what you need or enhancing the programs you already have.
Proactive and effective health and safety programs have been proven to reduce workplace accidents, injuries and illness, improve workplace morale and increase profitability. Safe + Sound Week provides an opportunity for organizations to start, energize, or simply recognize safety and health efforts, ultimately contributing to a better place to work.
Remember to tailor activities to your specific workplace and industry. The program will be more successful if there is a clear and pronounced commitment from Leadership and if employers proactively involve employees in the planning and execution to encourage ownership and participation.
Ways to Promote Participation
- Internal communications: Utilize newsletters, emails, and signage to keep employees informed and aware of events.
- Social media: Share your activities using hashtags like #SafeAndSoundAtWork or #OSHASafeAndSound.
- Community engagement: Consider involving other local businesses or the wider community to raise awareness about workplace safety.
- Recognize participation: Download a certificate of participation from the OSHA website to acknowledge your organization’s efforts.
For 2025, consider these activities for Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Conduct Emergency Drills: Practice fire drills, evacuation drills, or shelter-in-place procedures to ensure everyone knows how to react in different emergencies.
- Develop or Update Emergency Action Plans: Review your existing EAP for each facility or create new ones, ensuring they address various scenarios and include clear communication protocols.
- Hands-on Training: Provide training on using emergency equipment like fire extinguishers, respirators, or arrange for First Aid/CPR/AED certification classes.
- Safety Scavenger Hunts: Hide Emergency Response Plans, PPE, SDS sheets, Emergency Equipment and have employees locate them.
- Crisis Communication Plan: Develop a plan to ensure clear and timely communication during an emergency, including dealing with the media.
- Emergency Equipment Relay or Challenge: Turn learning about emergency equipment usage and care into an engaging activity.
- Emergency Response Jeopardy: Create a Jeopardy Game focused on the various elements of emergency preparedness with specific categories on fire and life safety, first aid, chemical spills or similar.
- Hazard Hunts or Safety Audits: Engage employees in finding and fixing hazards by conducting inspections and assessments, either as part of a formal audit or a less structured “find and fix” event.
- Creating or Refreshing Safety Policies: Use the week to establish a formal safety policy or revisit and update existing guidelines.
- Hold an Open Forum with Management: Hold a special event with Leadership to encourage employees to openly discuss safety concerns and offer suggestions for improvement.
- Rewarding Safe Behaviors: Acknowledge and appreciate employees who demonstrate strong safety practices through small rewards or recognition.
- “Safety Shuffle Challenge”: Allow employees to temporarily swap roles to gain a new perspective on potential hazards in other areas of the workplace.
If mid-August doesn’t work for your organization’s calendar—OSHA encourages participants to “pick a week that works for you!”
Register with OSHA to get resources and Certificates of participation
