Key Takeaways
- May’s biggest construction safety event is the National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, held the same week as industry-led Construction Safety Week.
- Construction accounted for almost half of all fatal falls, slips, and trips in private industry in 2024, and fall protection has topped the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s list of most cited standards for 15 years running.
- Crews often add new and seasonal workers in May. Travelers found that 44% of construction injuries over five years involved workers in their first year on the job.
- New workers also face the highest heat risk. OSHA reports that 50% to 70% of outdoor heat deaths happen in a worker’s first few days in warm conditions.
- Longer days bring more sun exposure and ticks, and a severe bleeding injury can turn fatal in as little as five minutes, so May is a good month to check sun protection, tick prevention, and bleeding control supplies.
Why May Safety Topics Matter as Work Heats Up
May is when many projects start ramping up for the busy season. Crews are growing, new and seasonal workers are joining sites, and the days are getting longer and hotter. Those changes tend to put more people at height and more equipment near overhead lines, often alongside workers who haven’t adjusted to the site or the heat.
May also carries one of the year’s biggest fall prevention events for construction, along with a week dedicated to giving every worker a voice on safety. These May safety topics focus on the hazards that tend to climb as work picks up, and each section links to related talks from our toolbox talk library.
Fall Protection and the National Safety Stand-Down
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction takes place each May, and it has grown into one of the largest voluntary safety events in the industry. Contractors pause work to talk through fall hazards with their crews, often during a morning huddle or a site-wide meeting.
The reason is clear in the data. Falls, slips, and trips caused 389 of the 1,034 construction deaths in 2024, and 95.9% of those were falls to a lower level, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction accounted for almost half of all fatal falls, slips, and trips in private industry that year. Fall protection has also topped OSHA’s list of most frequently cited standards for 15 consecutive years, and scaffolding regularly lands in the top 10 as well.
Use the Stand-Down to go beyond a reminder to tie off. A few areas worth walking through with crews:
- Harnesses and lanyards: inspect before every use, and pull anything with cuts, frays, burns, or a deployed shock absorber out of service.
- Anchor points: confirm crews know which anchors are rated for fall arrest and which aren’t.
- Edges and openings: check that guardrails are complete and that hole covers are secured, marked, and strong enough for the load.
- Scaffolds: make sure a competent person inspects them before each shift, with full planking, guardrails, and safe access in place.
- Rescue: talk through how the crew would reach a worker hanging in a harness, since prolonged suspension can restrict blood flow and turn a stopped fall into a medical emergency.
Additional Reading
Construction Safety Week and Stop-Work Authority
Construction Safety Week runs the same week as the Stand-Down. It’s an industry-led campaign, founded by the Construction Industry Safety Initiative and the Incident and Injury Free Executive Forum, and it now counts more than 150 supporting contractors, sponsors, and advocates, including several major data center builders and owners. The 2026 campaign ran under the theme “All In Together,” built around three ideas: recognize, respond, and respect.
The common thread is that every worker on site should feel able to speak up. A crew member who spots a missing guardrail or a swinging load can only help if they feel safe saying something. When workers stay quiet because they don’t want to slow the job down or step on another trade’s toes, small hazards can turn into serious incidents.
A few ways to put that into practice during the week, and after it:
- Reaffirm stop-work authority. Tell crews directly that anyone can stop work over a safety concern, and back up the first person who does.
- Let crews lead. Ask a different crew member to run the morning huddle each day.
- Close the loop. When someone raises a concern, tell them what changed as a result. Workers keep speaking up when they see it makes a difference.
- Check in on people, too. Long hours and schedule pressure can wear on crews as the season picks up. A simple check-in and a reminder about your Employee Assistance Program can help someone who’s struggling feel comfortable asking for help.
Additional Reading
Overhead Power Lines and Outdoor Electrical Safety
May is National Electrical Safety Month, and on a busy outdoor site, overhead power lines deserve a spot at the top of the electrical list. Spring work tends to bring cranes, concrete pump booms, aerial lifts, and dump trucks into areas where lines run overhead, and contact with an energized line can kill an operator or anyone touching the equipment.
OSHA’s crane standard, 29 CFR 1926.1408, sets the baseline for equipment working near overhead lines. Before work starts, employers need to:
- Identify the work zone and determine whether any part of the equipment, load line, or load could get within 20 feet of a power line.
- If it could, de-energize and ground the line, or put specific precautions in place to keep equipment from getting too close.
Wind matters, too. A toolbox talk from CPWR, The Center for Construction Research and Training, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health points out that wind can make lines sway and close the gap between a line and the equipment below it.
Walk the site before lifting or dumping starts, and treat every overhead line as energized until the utility confirms otherwise. Assign a dedicated spotter when equipment works near lines, and use warning lines or proximity alarms where you can. Make sure crews know what to do if equipment does contact a line: the operator should stay in the cab unless there’s a fire, and everyone else should keep clear of the equipment and anything touching it until the utility shuts the power off.
Additional Reading
New and Seasonal Workers
Many projects add crew in May, from summer hires and apprentices to subs mobilizing for the busy season. New workers bring energy to a site, but they also carry more risk. Travelers found in its 2025 Injury Impact Report that 44% of construction injuries over the previous five years involved workers in their first year on the job, and those injuries drove 47% of construction workers’ compensation claim costs.
Heat adds another layer. Between 50% and 70% of outdoor heat deaths happen in a worker’s first few days in warm or hot conditions, according to OSHA, because the body needs time to build tolerance. A worker who just started on your site in May may never have worked a full shift in the heat.
A simple plan for a new worker’s first week can cover both risks:
- Day one: walk the site together, point out the hazards that are unique to this project, and introduce the worker to the foreman, the competent persons, and the crew they’ll work with.
- First few days: pair the new worker with an experienced crew member who can answer questions and catch mistakes before they turn into injuries.
- Heat exposure: follow OSHA’s 20% rule. Limit time in the heat to about 20% of a normal shift on the first day, then add no more than 20% each day after that.
- Throughout the week: check in at the end of each shift, and make it clear that questions are welcome. New workers often stay quiet rather than admit they’re unsure.
The same approach works for experienced workers who are new to your project or returning after time away, since they face many of the same risks.
Additional Reading
Sun Exposure and Skin Cancer
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and the Friday before Memorial Day is “Don’t Fry Day,” a sun safety reminder from the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention. It’s well timed for construction. The days are getting longer, and crews working on roofs, decks, and open sites can spend most of a shift in direct sun.
Ultraviolet exposure adds up over a career. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists sunburn, skin cancer, and eye damage among the risks of working outdoors. Concrete, metal, and water can also reflect sunlight back onto skin, so shade alone doesn’t remove the exposure.
Sun protection on a jobsite works best when it’s built into the gear crews already wear. Lightweight long sleeves and pants block more sun than sunscreen alone, and hard hat brims or neck shades protect the ears and the back of the neck, which tend to get missed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher on any exposed skin. Reapply it through the day, keep sunscreen stocked where crews can grab it, and schedule breaks in the shade when you can, especially in the late morning and early afternoon when the sun is strongest. Encourage workers to see a doctor about any new or changing spots on their skin.
Additional Reading
Ticks and Insect-Borne Illness
May is also Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and late spring is when ticks become active across much of the country. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists construction among the occupations at risk for Lyme disease, along with land surveying, brush clearing, and utility line work. The risk tends to run highest for crews doing site clearing, grading, and utility work in wooded or brushy areas, especially in the Northeast and upper Midwest.
Ticks are small enough to miss, and a bite often doesn’t hurt. Lyme disease can cause fever, fatigue, and joint pain, and an untreated infection can spread to the joints, heart, and nervous system. NIOSH notes that removing a tick within 24 hours lowers the chance of infection, which makes daily checks one of the most useful habits a crew can build.
Encourage crews working in grass or brush to wear light-colored long pants tucked into boots, use insect repellent on skin, and consider permethrin-treated work clothes. Clear brush and tall grass from laydown areas and walking paths where you can. Workers should check their skin and clothes for ticks at the end of each shift, remove any they find with fine-tipped tweezers, and talk to a doctor if they develop a rash or flu-like symptoms in the weeks after a bite.
Bleeding Control and Trauma Response
May is National Stop the Bleed Month, led by the American College of Surgeons. Construction sites carry plenty of ways to cause a severe bleeding injury, from saws and grinders to rebar, sheet metal, glass, and crush injuries. The American College of Surgeons warns that a person can die from severe blood loss in as little as five minutes, which on a large or remote site can be well before an ambulance arrives.
The crew on site is usually the first line of response. Stop the Bleed training teaches three steps that anyone can learn in about an hour:
- Apply firm, direct pressure to the wound.
- Pack deep wounds with gauze or clean cloth.
- Use a tourniquet on an arm or leg when pressure isn’t enough to stop the bleeding.
Most standard first aid kits don’t include a tourniquet or wound-packing gauze, so check what’s on site. Stock bleeding control kits near high-risk work areas and in the trailer, make sure crews know where they are, and consider getting foremen and lead workers trained. Tie the kits into your emergency response plan, so crews know who calls 911, who meets the ambulance at the gate, and who stays with the injured worker.
Additional Reading
Strengthen Your May Safety Program
May tends to bring new faces and more work at height, all packed into longer days. Staying ahead of it depends on seeing how each crew is planning its work and making it easy for anyone to raise a concern.
Here’s what that looks like in practice, using Safety Mojo as an example:
- Checking fall protection plans before crews go up. 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 elevated work that lists “fall hazards” without naming the anchor points, fall protection system, or rescue plan might score lower, flagging it before anyone ties off. If someone falls, that record can also show oversight was in place.
- Making it easy to speak up. Conversational Forms lets a foreman or superintendent fill out observations and near-miss reports by voice. Lowering the effort it takes to report a concern can help the speak-up culture from Construction Safety Week carry through the rest of the season.
- Answering new workers’ questions on the spot. Ask Mojo is a voice-activated assistant that searches a project’s own safety documents in English or Spanish. A new hire can ask where the bleeding control kits are kept or how the project handles fall rescue without waiting for the next huddle.
If you’re heading into the busy season and want to see how this works on your projects, book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important May safety topics for construction? Key May topics for construction crews include fall protection, stop-work authority, overhead power lines, new and seasonal workers, heat acclimatization, sun exposure, ticks, and bleeding control.
What safety observances are in May? May includes OSHA’s National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction and Construction Safety Week, which typically run the same week early in the month. May is also National Electrical Safety Month, Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and National Stop the Bleed Month.
What is Construction Safety Week? Construction Safety Week is an industry-led campaign founded by the Construction Industry Safety Initiative and the Incident and Injury Free Executive Forum. It brings contractors, owners, and partners together each May to strengthen safety culture across the industry.
How close can equipment get to overhead power lines? OSHA’s crane standard requires employers to determine whether any part of the equipment, load line, or load could get within 20 feet of a power line. If it could, the employer must de-energize and ground the line or put specific precautions in place to prevent contact.
What is the 20% rule for heat acclimatization? OSHA recommends that new and returning workers spend no more than about 20% of a normal shift in the heat on their first day, then increase their time by no more than 20% each day after that.
How fast can someone bleed to death? The American College of Surgeons warns that a person can die from severe blood loss in as little as five minutes, which is why bleeding control kits and Stop the Bleed training matter on construction sites.
