Key Takeaways
- April marks the start of construction season in much of the country, with more equipment, more traffic, and more new workers on site.
- National Work Zone Awareness Week falls in April. In 2023, 899 people died in work zone crashes, including highway workers and the drivers and passengers moving through those zones.
- Distracted driving killed 3,275 people in 2023, a risk that cuts both ways for crews driving company vehicles and working near traffic.
- April is also National Safe Digging Month. Failing to contact 811 before digging contributed to about a quarter of the nearly 200,000 underground utility damages reported in 2024.
- Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28 offers a natural moment to review recent incidents and near misses with crews.
Why April Safety Topics Matter as Construction Season Ramps Up
April signals the real start of construction season in most of the United States. Weather improves, project schedules accelerate, and crews expand as work picks up. That ramp-up brings added exposure, from extra equipment and vehicle traffic on site to workers who may be new to the project or the trade.
April is also packed with national safety campaigns worth weaving into your toolbox talks and crew meetings. National Work Zone Awareness Week, Distracted Driving Awareness Month, National Safe Digging Month, and Workers’ Memorial Day all fall on this month. Each one offers a ready-made reason to reinforce the basics before the pace gets away from you, and these April safety topics include related talks from our toolbox talk library.
Work Zones and Struck-By Hazards
National Work Zone Awareness Week typically falls in mid-to-late April, marking the unofficial start of road construction season. The numbers behind it are sobering. Work zone crashes killed 899 people in 2023, and speed played a role in 34% of fatal work zone crashes, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Most of those killed were drivers and passengers, but 82 highway workers also died at road construction sites that year.
The same hazard shows up on jobsites far from any highway. Being struck by a vehicle, a piece of equipment, or a falling object is one of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Focus Four hazards in construction. As crews expand in April, more pickups, delivery trucks, and loaders end up sharing space with workers on foot. A driver looking at their phone for a few seconds can cover the length of a football field, so one lapse can get bad very quickly.
Review traffic control plans with crews before work begins, and make high-visibility clothing a standing requirement for anyone near moving vehicles or equipment. Designate spotters and flaggers with clear communication protocols, set up separate walking paths where you can, and walk the work zone perimeter to find gaps in signage or barriers. OSHA’s work zone safety resources offer more guidance for site-specific plans.
Additional Reading
Distracted Driving
This one goes hand in hand with work zone awareness. Distracted Driving Awareness Month runs throughout April, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration pairs it with its “Put the Phone Away or Pay” enforcement campaign. Distracted driving killed 3,275 people and injured nearly 325,000 in 2023, according to NHTSA. For construction crews, the risk cuts two ways: workers driving company vehicles, and outside motorists driving through or near active work zones.
Distracted driving includes more than phone use. Eating, adjusting controls, conversations, and even daydreaming all pull attention from the road. The same principles apply on jobsites where crews operate pickups, material trucks, or heavy equipment. A momentary lapse behind the wheel of a loaded concrete truck has very different consequences than one in a sedan.
Reinforce no-phone policies for anyone operating company vehicles or equipment. Encourage crews to report near misses involving distracted drivers in or near work zones. Plan trips so drivers can pull over safely to return calls or check messages.
Additional Reading
Workers’ Memorial Day
April 28 marks Workers’ Memorial Day, a day to honor workers who have been killed, injured, or made ill on the job. The date commemorates the anniversary of OSHA’s founding in 1971. For safety leaders, it’s a chance to pause, reflect, and recommit to the fundamentals.
Construction remains one of the most dangerous industries in the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 5,070 fatal work injuries across all industries in 2024, which works out to one worker death every 104 minutes. Construction accounted for more of those deaths than any other private industry. The AFL-CIO’s Workers Memorial Day campaign sums up the purpose of the day: “remember the dead and fight for the living.”
Hold a moment of silence during a toolbox talk on or near April 28. Use the day to review recent incidents or near misses on your own projects, and talk through what changed as a result. Reinforce that every worker has the right to speak up about unsafe conditions without fear of retaliation.
Additional Reading
Safe Digging and Utility Strikes
April is National Safe Digging Month, timed to the start of peak digging season. Underground utility strikes remain a stubborn problem. The Common Ground Alliance’s 2024 Damage Information Reporting Tool report counted nearly 200,000 unique damages to buried utility lines that year, and failing to contact 811 before digging contributed to about a quarter of them.
A utility strike can do far more than delay a project. Hitting a gas line can cause a fire or explosion, contact with a buried electrical line can electrocute an operator, and a cut fiber or water line can shut down service to an entire neighborhood. OSHA’s excavation standard, 29 CFR 1926.651, requires contractors to determine the approximate location of underground utilities before opening an excavation.
The basics hold up every time:
- Contact 811 before any digging, and check your state’s required notice period.
- Wait until every utility has marked its lines or confirmed it has nothing in the area.
- Respect the marks. Hand dig or use vacuum excavation within the tolerance zone around each line.
- Keep marks visible, and request a re-mark if they fade, wash out, or get disturbed.
- Stop work and call the utility right away if equipment contacts a line, even if the damage looks minor.
Additional Reading
Silica Exposure and Respiratory Protection
As outdoor work ramps up in April, cutting concrete, grinding masonry, and drilling rock all generate respirable crystalline silica. Silica is a known carcinogen that can cause silicosis, lung cancer, and kidney disease when workers breathe it in. OSHA’s silica standard for construction requires engineering controls, exposure assessment, and respiratory protection for many common tasks.
The limits are strict. The permissible exposure limit is 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift, and that threshold is easy to exceed without proper controls in place. A crew dry-cutting block or grinding a slab without dust controls can pass it in a short time.
Make sure crews use water suppression or vacuum dust collection when cutting or grinding. Verify that respirators fit properly and that crews maintain them. Train workers to recognize silica-generating tasks and the controls each one requires, so protection becomes part of every setup.
Additional Reading
Housekeeping and Falling Objects
When projects ramp up, materials pile up. Scrap, packaging, offcuts, and debris can accumulate quickly on active jobsites, and the problem gets worse on upper floors where wind and foot traffic can send loose material over an edge.
Poor housekeeping creates trip hazards and blocks egress routes, which can cause serious problems in an emergency. It also feeds the struck-by risk from the work zone section above. A bundle of conduit stacked near an open edge or a tool left on a scaffold plank can become a falling object for the crew working below.
Dedicate time at the end of each shift for cleanup, and assign housekeeping by work area so it doesn’t fall to whoever notices first. Keep materials stacked away from edges and openings, use toe boards or debris netting where work happens overhead, and walk the site regularly to catch accumulation points before they become problems.
Additional Reading
Planning Ahead for Heat
Summer is still a few months away, but April temperatures can spike unexpectedly, especially in southern regions. Workers who haven’t adjusted to the heat face a higher risk of heat-related illness, and April is a good time to get a plan in place before the first hot week arrives.
Heat illness can set in at lower temperatures than many people expect, especially with high humidity or heavy physical work. Acclimatization matters most for new and returning workers, who need time to build up tolerance. OSHA’s heat illness prevention resources cover water, rest, shade, and the early warning signs to watch for.
Use April to set up the basics: decide where shade and water will go as the site layout changes, plan a gradual schedule for new workers during their first hot days, and make sure foremen know the early signs of heat illness, like heavy sweating, weakness, nausea, and dizziness. Building the plan now means crews will already know it when the first heat wave hits.
Additional Reading
Strengthen Your April Safety Program
The habits crews build in April tend to carry through the rest of the season. As activity ramps up, staying ahead of new hazards depends on seeing what’s happening across every crew and sub while there’s still time to act.
Here’s what that looks like in practice, using Safety Mojo as an example:
- Checking excavation plans before digging starts. Flex PTP is Safety Mojo’s digital Pre-Task Plan tool. It scores the quality of submitted PTPs and permit requests, so a safety manager can see which ones need a closer look. A PTP for excavation work that doesn’t mention the 811 ticket, utility marks, or hand-digging near lines might score lower, flagging it before equipment breaks ground. If a strike does happen, that record can also show oversight was in place.
- Capturing struck-by near misses. Conversational Forms lets a foreman or superintendent fill out observations and near-miss reports by voice. A foreman can document a close call with a backing truck or a dropped tool on the spot, while the details are still clear.
- Following through after Workers’ Memorial Day. My Day Dashboard gives safety leaders a real-time view of open items across their projects, including corrective actions. After reviewing past incidents with crews, it can help confirm that crews close out the fixes that came out of that conversation.
If you’re preparing for a busy construction season and want to see how this works on your projects, book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important April safety topics for construction? Key April topics for construction crews include work zone and struck-by hazards, distracted driving, Workers’ Memorial Day, safe digging and utility strikes, silica exposure, housekeeping, and early planning for heat.
What safety observances are in April? April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and National Safe Digging Month. National Work Zone Awareness Week typically falls in mid-to-late April, and Workers’ Memorial Day is April 28.
How many people die in work zone crashes each year? Work zone crashes killed 899 people in 2023, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Most were drivers and passengers, but 82 highway workers also died at road construction sites that year.
Do you have to call 811 before digging on a construction site? Yes. Contact 811 before any excavation, wait for utilities to mark their lines, and follow your state’s notice requirements. OSHA also requires contractors to determine the approximate location of underground utilities before opening an excavation.
What is the OSHA permissible exposure limit for silica? OSHA’s permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica is 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift.
Why is Workers’ Memorial Day on April 28? April 28 marks the anniversary of OSHA’s founding in 1971. The day honors workers who were killed, injured, or made ill on the job.
