Mike Choutka, CEO Hensel Phelps and Construction Safety Week Chair 2025

Making a Difference in Safety

Construction Safety Week is now in its 11th year and remains dedicated to promoting a stronger safety culture in the construction industry. In 2014, 40 companies recognized the need to elevate the conversation around safety. Despite being industry competitors, they united under the shared mission of bringing everyone home safely from every jobsite. This common goal continues to foster collaboration across organizations and shape the future of safety across the industry.

Construction Safety Week has continued to evolve and grow into a powerful movement making the industry safer, but there is still room to improve. In 2023, the construction industry accounted for 1,075 workplace fatalities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number is something the industry is making every effort to reduce through education and resources. Organizations participating in Construction Safety Week are provided with tools to engage their teams and share best practices to improve jobsite safety. This is a great time to evaluate processes and prioritize impact, but committing to focusing on safety year-round is also essential.

Setting the Tone for Safety

Every person on a construction site plays a vital role in ensuring each job is completed safely, but the role of the foreman is crucial to all aspects of the jobsite. This includes managing productivity and ensuring a safe environment. With an intimate connection to the team members, the foreman is the direct link between the team members and leadership. They are the eyes and ears of the superintendent and are in a unique position to ensure that the work is completed timely, safely, and according to plan.

With this level of responsibility, the foreman needs an equal level of support from leadership and their team when facing challenges that can feel outside of their control. Predetermined timelines, complex projects, and employee skillsets are some of these factors that can create barriers to their success as leaders in the field. From the craft professionals to the foreman to the superintendents and other leadership in the organization, everyone shares responsibility for the safety and execution of the work.

Effective communication at every level of the team is critical, with the foreman serving as the central link. Empowering these individuals to manage their crews, maintain safety standards and to communicate when they feel the plan needs to be adjusted or there is a safety risk is essential for ensuring safe outcomes. This also leads to deeper trust and respect within teams and demonstrates the value each team member brings to their collective success. Recognizing their role in making the right decisions helps them manage the team more effectively and plays an important role in industry safety.

Providing the Framework for Safety

In addition to various resources made available for companies to utilize during this week-long initiative, Construction Safety Week also provides a framework, empowering companies to guide meaningful conversations and activities centered around safety. A new campaign theme is introduced every year to focus the efforts of Construction Safety Week. This year’s theme is All in Together, which represents the industry’s collective dedication to safety. This theme is reinforced through Daily Topics assigned to each day of Safety Week to help engage teams in discussion and encourage open sharing of ideas. The 2025 Daily Topics emphasize the core components of this year’s theme: Plan, Own and Commit.

On Monday, the focus of the day is to plan with precision, emphasizing the importance of starting every day with a well-thought-out plan that accounts for all aspects of every task. By identifying potential risks from the start, the team can help mitigate risks through active collaboration and communication.

Tuesday highlights identifying high energy hazards. While understanding that there is no way to eliminate all risks, focusing on eliminating these high-energy hazards can make a critical difference in safety on a jobsite.

Wednesday reinforces the notion that everyone owns their part when it comes to safety. This comprehensive approach, where everyone comes together and takes ownership, fosters a stronger safety culture.

Thursday, the focus shifts to engaging and empowering team members, creating a team committed to safety. By encouraging and empowering this commitment to safety, organizations build a culture of trust and mutual respect.

The week concludes with a call to commit to excellence. Together, we can create a safer and stronger industry for everyone through dedication and continuously striving to improve.

These topics are great assets for the company as a whole but are guiding posts for the foreman as they lead on the jobsite.

How To Get Involved in Construction Safety Week 2025

This week-long campaign highlights resources to improve safety programs and promote safety across the company. Team members and leadership will gain access to resources that will enhance the safety culture in their organization. As the construction industry continues making strides in safety by investing time and resources toward education, companies continue to commit to safety initiatives like Construction Safety Week. By doing so, they are demonstrating that they are leaders in the industry. Construction Safety Week encourages organizations to commit to the safety movement in 2025 as sponsors, members, or advocates. This year’s Safety Week takes place May 5-9, 2025. Learn more about Construction Safety Week 2025, how our safety initiatives can help your team recommit to safety for the year, and how to get involved by visiting constructionsafetyweek.com.

ABC is proud to be a sponsor of Construction Safety Week, May 5-9. In a Construction Safety Week Primer webinar, a CEO panel discusses the initiative that extends as a call to action for the entire contracting community to commit to a safer industry. Watch to learn more about how to participate, the resources available and explore this year’s theme, "All in Together." The panel includes speakers Adam Jelen, president and CEO of Gilbane Building Co., Mike Bellaman, ABC president and CEO, Mike Choutka, chairman and CEO Hensel Phelps, as well as moderator Joe Xavier, ABC senior director of health and safety.