How to Keep Your Workplace Safe and Employees Thriving This National Safety Month

Workplace safety takes center stage every June during National Safety Month, a campaign led by the National Safety Council.

The goal of National Safety Month is to raise awareness about the leading causes of preventable injury and death, and to “help keep each other safe from the workplace to anyplace.” 

This month is an excellent time for your organization to refocus on safety initiatives and reinforce a safety-first culture from the top down. It’s not just a time to talk about safety, it’s a time to ensure you’re building a strong company that is improving, serving, growing, and thriving.

To help guide you, National Safety Month highlights a different topic each week. Here are the 2025 topics:

Week 1: Continuous Improvement

Employers should review their safety policies and provide training refreshers to prevent workplace injuries. Examples of workplace injuries may include overexertion, machine entanglement, repetitive motion injuries, car accidents, exposure to harmful materials, workplace violence, and slips, trips, and falls. (We recently talked about fall prevention and have a free fall prevention training tooklit here.)

This is also a good time to conduct audits to identify areas for improvement and benchmark your company’s safety practices against industry standards. Employers may also choose to conduct drills, such as fire or spill drills, to prepare their team for such emergencies and update safety procedures as needed. 

Finally, as employers reexamine their risks, they may seek the guidance of a risk management professional who can help develop a strategy for the future (we are standing by).

Week 2: Employee Engagement

If you expect your team to adopt workplace safety best practices, they must be engaged! A few ways to do this are by forming a safety committee, empowering employees at different levels to contribute safety input and help make safety decisions, and encouraging team members to report safety hazards or near-misses without fear of getting in trouble. Employers can also offer safety incentives, such as rewarding consistent safety practices, injury prevention, and celebrating safety milestones. 

Week 3: Roadway Safety

In 2023, transportation incidents were the most frequent cause of fatal occupational injuries, resulting in 1,942 deaths (36.8 percent of all work-related fatalities), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roadway safety is a topic all employees should be discussing with their team, particularly around the risks of distracted driving (e.g., texting, eating), fatigue, speeding, driving under the influence, driving in unusual weather conditions, and not maintaining vehicles. 

Employers should also understand the importance of commercial auto insurance, also known as business auto insurance. A good way to determine if you need commercial auto insurance is to ask yourself this question: aside from commuting to and from work, do I regularly need my vehicle to operate my business? We talk more about commercial auto insurance vs. personal auto insurance here.

Week 4: Wellbeing

According to the World Health Organization, 83% of workers in the United States suffer from work-related stress. There are many ways employers can take a proactive stance on employee wellbeing. In addition to establishing safe working conditions and workplace practices, employers should work to normalize discussions around mental health, social connection, and a healthy relationship with work. 

Fortunately, there are various wellness solutions for small and medium-sized businesses today. Supplemental programs like a Nurse Triage Membership or Employee Assistance Program (EAP) are similar to having a wellness professional on staff who provides confidential support to employees facing physical or mental challenges before they become too overwhelming to manage.

At Fusco Orsini & Associates and 4C Advising, we believe you can build your strongest business yet! A big part of strengthening your business comes from prioritizing your people, fostering their wellbeing, and creating a safe and proactive workplace for them to thrive.

If you are ready to assess your risk and explore HR and wellness solutions for your small or medium-sized business, we are ready to help! Partner with us HERE.

Sources:

June is National Safety Month | National Safety Council