The National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) is declaring June to be Trench Safety Month, building upon the annual Trench Safety Stand Down it has held for the past four years. This year’s Trench Safety Stand Down is occurring this week, June 15-19.

“In this industry, the safety of our employees on the job site is our top priority,” says Doug Carlson, CEO of NUCA. “Making this June Trench Safety Month emphasizes the valuable training and experiences our members’ employees are gaining through the Trench Safety Stand Down week held annually in June throughout our industry.”

For the past four years in June, NUCA has held the Trench Safety Stand Down week as an education opportunity for the utility construction industry. This year’s event will occur at hundreds of job sites across the nation, reaching tens of thousands of workers.

The Trench Safety Stand Down is a series of organized events held by NUCA and industry professionals — both member and non-member organizations — to emphasize the message of safety around job site trenches and excavations. The week is used by industry safety professionals to hold safety training, educational seminars, live demonstrations of trench rescues, and other activities to reinforce the message of trench safety.

Due to the success of the trench safety program, NUCA decided to make June 2020 the first Trench Safety Month. The association is devoting the entire month of June to getting the message out to the public and non-NUCA industry companies about the importance of employee safety when working underground or in and around trenches. In an effort to grow this message of safety, NUCA has been utilizing its social media channels, internal publications, and the media to emphasize key safety ideas.

Selecting June as Trench Safety Month is a natural tie-in to the lessons and demonstrations being completed at thousands of NUCA member job sites during the Trench Safety Stand Down. In 2019, more than 47,000 industry employees and first responders at over 4,500 job sites, from 324 organizations, took part in the event. Evidence shows that the key to significantly reducing the risks associated with activities like excavation is employee training and reinforcement through events such as the Trench Safety Stand Down.

During the entire month of June, check out NUCA’s social media channels: Twitter (@NUCA_National), Facebook (NUCA1964), LinkedIn (NUCA National), Instagram (NUCA_National), and its revamped YouTube channel (NUCA National). 

The social media hashtag is #TrenchSafetyMonth.

About the National Utility Contractors Association

Founded in 1964, the National Utility Contractors Association represents nearly 1,700 U.S. utility and excavation contractors, manufacturers, and suppliers who provide the materials and workforce to build and maintain the nation’s intricate network of water, sewer, gas, telecommunications, and electric infrastructure. NUCA is found online at www.nuca.com.