All In Together, A Bold Five-Year Vision for Safety: Construction Safety Week 2026
By Adam Jelen, CEO and President of Gilbane Building, and Construction Safety Week 2026 Chair
Advancing a Culture of Care
As Construction Safety Week enters its 12th year of strengthening health and safety throughout the industry, the organization is launching a new five-year vision to continue to deepen the culture of care and drive alignment in how safety is understood, owned, and engineered across the entire project life cycle.
Over the last decade, Safety Week has made meaningful strides to advance health and safety, but the journey continues. Construction, with its dynamic environments and complex operations, continues to be among the industries most impacted by serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs). Although recordable incident rates have seen a downward trend in the U.S. construction industry, fatality rates have remained persistently high for over 10 years.
Recognize, Respond, Respect
As part of the All In Together headline, Safety Week 2026 focuses on three distinct pillars: Recognize, Respond, Respect. These pillars signify a unified call to action on high-energy, high-hazard work to prevent SIFs. These pillars reflect the industry’s shared responsibility to confront the challenge of SIFs head-on, and underscore the critical need for a common understanding and unified approach when it comes to identifying and preventing hazards.
Safety Week is continuing to amplify this message and education through three targeted technical bulletins that align with the pillars of Recognize, Respond, Respect. The bulletins, developed in collaboration with the Safety Week Technical Committee and shaped by input from industry leaders, safety experts, and skilled craft professionals, reflect the shared responsibility to protect lives across every phase of the project.
Creating a unified framework for hazard recognition can help safety become ingrained in the project, starting from day one. One of the biggest challenges the construction industry faces in mitigating high-energy hazards is the lack of consistent benchmarking and classification for high-energy hazard recognition, along with the risk controls necessary to prevent SIFs. By tackling this with unity at the forefront rather than a fragmented approach, construction can set a new benchmark for safety excellence and drive meaningful, lasting change across the industry.
A Show of Force
Safety Week gives companies the opportunity to utilize resources and guides to help build and further cultivate a culture of safety within their organizations, while driving real, tangible change within the industry.
The technical bulletins are just one of the resources provided to companies during Construction Safety Week to help them spread awareness of the critical message across their job sites. This year’s theme, All In Together: Recognize, Respond, Respect is brought to life through curated Daily Topics, which are selected for each day of Safety Week to empower meaningful conversations and discussion on high-energy hazard prevention.
Monday focuses on recognizing high-energy hazards that are present on the jobsite, which is essential to eliminating the high-energy hazards that lead to SIFs. Early identification of high-energy hazards, combined with clear and effective communication using hazard identification models will not only protect teams, but also foster a strong culture of care.
Tuesday highlights responding to these high-energy hazards once they are identified by putting in place effective, direct controls. The strongest protection happens when hazardous energy is eliminated, reduced, or isolated through planning, engineered safeguards, and verified field conditions before work begins.
Wednesday spotlights the National OSHA Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls, which teams will take part in to recognize that speaking up, slowing down, and choosing the safer action every time is what prevents falls, protects each other, and ensures everyone goes home at the end of the day.
Thursday centers on the final theme pillar, Respect. It emphasizes the importance of respecting and implementing the plan in every phase, and if something changes to stop, reassess, and replan.
Finally, on Friday, we reinforce our unified commitment to Recognize, Respond, and Respect across every phase and create a culture where every stakeholder, including owners, designers, contractors, and skilled craft is all in together. Safety Week looks forward to building on this momentum in 2027.
Collectively, these topics can help companies to continue to embed safety as a defining value on their job ites.
How to Get Involved in Construction Safety Week 2026
Construction Safety Week 2026 continues to serve as a catalyst for industry-wide progress, providing organizations with resources to strengthen safety programs and elevate awareness across every phase of the project. The website offers a variety of materials that support ongoing education, empower safety leadership, and strengthen culture within teams and the industry.
As Safety Week builds on more than a decade of momentum, companies are invited to demonstrate leadership by committing to the movement as sponsors, members, or advocates. By investing themselves into safety initiatives, organizations affirm that protecting lives is not just a priority for one week, but a year-round responsibility.
Construction Safety Week 2026 will take place May 4-8, 2026. To learn more about how your organization can participate, visit http://www.constructionsafetyweek.com.
Adam Jelen is President & CEO of Gilbane Building and a forward-thinking leader focused on advancing the success of Gilbane’s operations, driving regional growth across the company’s divisions, and ensuring the highest levels of operational excellence for clients. Since joining Gilbane in 2005, he has built a track record of leading high-performing teams, scaling complex operations, and driving disciplined growth with an inclusive, high-accountability leadership style. A LEED Accredited Professional, Adam is an expert in Integrated Project Delivery, Lean Construction, and Building Information Modeling, and he holds a B.S. in Construction from Bradley University and an A.S. in Science from Harper College. Adam is Chair of Construction Safety Week 2026 and a long-time partner of the ACE Mentor Program, serving on the executive committee of ACE Mentor Program of America.