Building Safety Month activities are in full swing all around the country. Jurisdictions are hosting "Meet your Building Officials" sessions for consumers, visiting schools to educate students about hazards found around their homes with the CODiE and CODEtte materials and performing safety demonstrations in hardware and home stores. Building Officials, like Susan McLendon of Citrus Heights, Calif., started speaking to neighborhood associations about Building Safety Month in April and followed up with school visits in May and a social event at City Hall. Her son served as a Junior Code Official and mascot.
Sponsors are in full engagement including, Air Movement & Control Association (AMCA) and their 80,000 members who will spread the Building Safety Month message. AMCA Executive Director, Wade Smith, P.E., commented, "Building safety is an important focus of AMCA members, who make fans, louvers, dampers and controls, which provide people with the air they need to survive. In the event of a fire, AMCA products pressurize and ventilate escape routes, remove deadly smoke, which is far more deadly than the fire itself, and help prevent the spread of fire. Air movement and control systems also minimize power use by sensing and controlling air quality when buildings are occupied. That is why AMCA chose to become the lead sponsor of Building Safety Month."
The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) and the Building Officials Association of Texas (BOAT) are planning an elementary school student outreach program. BASF-The Chemical Company has provided information to enrich the content on Energy & Green Building, FEMA on Disaster Safety and Mitigation and Simpson Strong-Tie for Backyard Safety on deck safety.
The resources on BuildingSafetyMonth.org are there to help plan events and engage your community not only during Building Safety Month but throughout the year. You'll find the Mike Holmes' Public Service Announcement (PSA) available for download for use in presentations or on municipal channels, the I-Support List, and specific resources for planning events.
As 2012 Building Safety Month comes to a close, we are compiling a list of this year's successes. Please send information about your events and photos to info@icc-foundation.org. |