Building Safety Month concludes with a focus on disaster preparedness

The virtual celebration for Building Safety Month ends with week 4, which highlights disaster preparedness. This week, the Code Council, its members and partners emphasize the cornerstone of advanced planning for devastating events like hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, tornadoes, wildfires and earthquakes to help individuals and communities increase the health and safety of their population during and after a disaster.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published a landmark 2020 study, Building Codes Save: A Nationwide Study, showing how modern hazard-resistant building codes lead to a major reduction in property losses from predictable natural disasters. The FEMA report calculates losses from three types of natural hazards (earthquakes, flooding and hurricane winds) for each state and Washington, D.C. Cumulative losses avoided across the U.S. from codes that have already been adopted are projected to grow to over $132 billion by the year 2040.

“Uncertainty has been on the forefront of our minds all over the world,” said Code Council Chief Executive Officer Dominic Sims, CBO. “In this last week of Building Safety Month, we end on the note to be prepared for any circumstance, especially natural disasters. The International Codes prevent, prepare and protect our families and communities, and the studies prove that adoption and administration of the codes will help defend us against disasters like fires, weather-related events and structural collapse.”

The Code Council will host a Building Safety Month virtual panel event on “The Future of Building Codes and Hazard Mitigation” at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, May 25. In this panel discussion sponsored by 4LEAF, Inc., public- and private-sector senior leaders will address how they are leveraging building codes to help shape the future of hazard mitigation. To register for the upcoming event, click here. View 4LEAF’s Building Safety Month video here.

“It is our pleasure to be able to support the agencies we serve by bringing together highly skilled and experienced professionals to impacted areas needing expedited technical support to facilitate the rebirth of affected communities,” said Kevin Duggan, president of 4LEAF.

Simpson Strong-Tie is the sponsor for week 4 of Building Safety Month. The American Gas Association serves as the 2021 Building Safety Month campaign foundation sponsor. Learn more about the Building Safety Month sponsors here.

More information about Building Safety Month, including details regarding virtual events and downloadable resources, can be found at: www.buildingsafetymonth.org. Interested individuals can also follow along on social media using the hashtag #BuildingSafety365.

Additional links:

• Register for upcoming educational sessions here.
• View and download this year’s website and social media graphics here.
• Join the Twitter #CODEversation. Every week throughout Building Safety Month the Code Council will post a series of questions related to each weekly theme.