Department of Labor to highlight safe construction work practices during 2025 National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is encouraging construction industry employers and workers, across the nation, to take part in its 12th annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction from May 5-9, 2025. This nationwide event spotlights preventing falls, the construction industry’s leading cause of worker deaths.

Throughout the week, OSHA urges employers to pause during the workday to conduct “stand-down” activities, including safety demonstrations, hazard recognition and fall prevention training, and “tool-box” talks about hazards. Employers are also encouraged to have discussions about job-specific hazards, like roofing, ladder use, and working on scaffolds.

Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling will participate in the 2025 Stand-Down and provide remarks during an event at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, where multiple construction and renovation projects are currently underway.