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Perspective

Construction Safety Best Practices: Lessons from Our Annual Safety Stand Down

Every year, we make a deliberate choice to pause as a company.

Ahead of Construction Safety Week, we bring our teams together for a nationwide Safety Stand Down. Across job sites and offices, through virtual connections, our teams hear a unified message that reinforces what it takes to work safely. By regrouping the week before, we give our message the space it deserves while allowing our teams to participate in Safety Week events alongside our partners fully. Now in its third year, this event has become a defining part of how we lead.

This year’s message—delivered by our CEO Jeff Vanderlaan and National Safety Director Manny Rodriguez—reinforced what it takes to keep teams safe:

  • Stay alert when conditions change.
  • Use stop-work authority without hesitation.
  • Speak up. Ask for help. Look out for the person next to you.
  • Commit to the fundamentals—pre-task planning, daily huddles, stretch and flex, and follow-through on the details that keep crews moving and protected.

Technology is helping us move faster, report in real time, and respond with greater precision. But tools don’t replace accountability. Safety is built on habits, discipline, and teamwork. It comes down to millions of decisions made the right way. Every day.

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