National Safety Month is an annual campaign held every June by the National Safety Council (NSC) to reduce preventable injuries and deaths at work, on the road and at home. NSC established it in 1996, and 2026 marked its 30th anniversary. Each year NSC picks weekly topics and offers free materials that employers can use to run a month of safety activities.
For employers, the month offers a full four weeks of structured content. Instead of a single safety day, you can run a series of short talks and activities that build on each other and reach every shift.
When Is National Safety Month in 2027?
National Safety Month 2027 runs for the whole month of June, from June 1 to June 30, 2027. The timing does not change: it is always the month of June.
What changes each year are the weekly topics. NSC divides the month into four weekly themes and announces them, along with any campaign theme, before June. In 2026, the weekly topics were Moving Safety Forward, Staying Safe on the Roads, Promoting Holistic Worker Health, and Preventing Slips, Trips and Falls. NSC had not published 2027 topics at the time of writing, so check the NSC National Safety Month page in the spring.
June also includes CPR and AED Awareness Week (June 1–7), which pairs well with a week focused on emergency readiness.
Why It Matters at Work
Preventable injuries remain common across every industry. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries reports that a worker died every 104 minutes from a work-related injury in 2024. Transportation incidents accounted for 38.2 percent of those deaths, and road safety was one of NSC's weekly topics in 2026.
Fatalities are only part of the picture. Strains, falls on the same level, struck-by injuries and vehicle incidents lead to lost time, workers' compensation costs and disruption. Many of these events follow warning signs that were visible beforehand: a near miss that was never reported, a housekeeping problem everyone stepped around or a shortcut that became routine.
National Safety Month gives you a reason to look for those signs on purpose, get workers involved and close gaps before they lead to injuries.
How to Take Part
NSC offers free National Safety Month materials after a quick sign-up. In 2026 these included a campaign poster and participant guide, weekly fact sheets, five-minute safety talks, curated videos and articles, and a pledge for workers to sign. NSC members receive the materials automatically. Ideas for your workplace or fleet:
- Plan four weekly themes. Use NSC's weekly topics or match each week to your top injury causes from the past year.
- Hold a short talk every shift. Use the NSC five-minute talks or your own toolbox talks at the start of each shift.
- Launch an observation challenge. Ask every team to submit safety observations during the month and recognize the teams with the most useful reports.
- Add a road safety week. Cover distracted driving, seat belts, fatigue and vehicle inspections for drivers and employees who drive for work.
- Run a housekeeping blitz. Tackle slips, trips and falls with a walkthrough of walkways, stairs, lighting and spill response.
- Include health and well-being. Share resources on fatigue, stress and mental health, and remind workers of support programs.
- Share results. At the end of June, report back on what workers found and what you fixed.
Toolbox Talk: Safety Is Everyone's Job
A 5-minute kickoff talk for the first week of June:
- Why June. June is National Safety Month. Each week we will focus on a different topic, but the goal is the same: everyone goes home without an injury.
- Look around. Hazards become invisible when we see them every day. This month, look at your area as if it were your first day on the job.
- Report what you see. If you see a hazard, a near miss or an unsafe habit, report it. Positive observations count too. Tell us what is working.
- Take it home and on the road. Many injuries happen off the job and behind the wheel. Buckle up, put the phone away and use the same care at home.
- We will act on it. Supervisors will review every report, assign fixes and share progress each week.
Discussion question: If you could fix one safety issue in our workplace this month, what would it be?
How SMS360 Helps
A month of activity creates a lot of information, and the SMS360 Safety Observations module helps you capture and act on it. Workers can submit hazards, near misses and positive observations from a mobile device with photos. Supervisors can assign corrective actions with owners and due dates, and dashboards show participation and trends by week, site and topic. When June ends, you have a clear record of what was reported and fixed, and a baseline to keep the reporting habit going all year.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is National Safety Month 2027?
National Safety Month 2027 runs from June 1 to June 30, 2027. It is observed every June. The National Safety Council announces the weekly topics for each year on its website before the month begins.
Who started National Safety Month?
The National Safety Council established National Safety Month in June 1996. NSC is a nonprofit safety organization, and it continues to lead the campaign and provide free materials each year.
What are the National Safety Month 2027 topics?
NSC had not announced the 2027 weekly topics at the time of writing. For reference, the 2026 topics were Moving Safety Forward, Staying Safe on the Roads, Promoting Holistic Worker Health, and Preventing Slips, Trips and Falls. Sign up on the NSC website to receive the 2027 materials when they are released.
