The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration encouraged construction industry employers and workers, across the nation, to take part in its 12th annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 5-9, 2025. This nationwide event spotlights preventing falls, the construction industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.
Throughout the week, OSHA urged employers to pause during the workday to conduct “stand-down” activities, including safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards. Employers were also encouraged to have discussions about job-specific hazards, like roofing, ladder use, and working on scaffolds.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling participated in the 2025 Stand-Down and provided remarks during an event at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, where multiple construction and renovation projects are currently underway.
OSHA published a list of free, public events on its website to help employers and workers – both from the construction and other industries – find opportunities to get involved locally.
A cornerstone of OSHA’s Fall Prevention Campaign, the National Safety Stand-Down, was developed in partnership with The Center for Construction Research and Training. The event also coincided with Construction Safety Week and its National Safety Stand-Down Initiative to help prevent falls in construction. Since its launch in 2012, the initiative has helped train more than 10 million workers on fall prevention.
Source: OSHA (Edited by Subcontractors USA)
