Week 4 - (May 20-26) Engaging Your Community

Let Your Voice Be Heard

We all have a part to play in making sure the places where we live, work and play are safe for not only ourselves, but our family, friends and neighbors, too. Be the change you'd like to see in your community by speaking up about building safety. From reaching out to your local media, to advocating for building safety to local leadership, even the smallest action can ultimately save lives. The ICCsafe.org webpage provides education and advocacy tips, as well as "Press Release" and "Letter to the Editor" templates that are easily editable and shareable.

• Talk to your network about building safety and share fact-based information and resources on your social media accounts.
• Share news releases with your local newspapers, radio stations and television networks to encourage local media to cover stories related to building safety.
• Share building safety information or concerns with your public information officer, city manager or mayor.
• Plan community events to raise awareness or attend local events about building safety.
• Contact the code officials in your area to learn more about the building industry and discover local volunteer opportunities.

Get Kids Involved

Kids learn the basics of building safety from an early age – without even knowing it!  ICC put together resources here and on the ICC Kids Corner page to help parents, teachers and community leaders teach kids what building safety professionals do, and how they make our homes and communities safer for everyone. With a little help from CODiE the Cheetah, kids can work through the Building Safety Month activity book to complete their training and earn a certificate as a Junior Code Official (and submit a proclamation!).

• Listen to the special episode of the Pulse Podcast on “Kids and Building Safety”. Print the same checklist used in the episode for an immersive and interactive building safety experience at home.
• Coming Soon! - Download and share a classroom activity that includes building safety themes and objectives.
• Coming Soon! – The Building Safety Month activity book includes fun puzzles and games that teach kids what to do to keep themselves and their families safe, aware and prepared.
• Parents, teachers and chapter leaders browse Building Safety Month-themed items that are perfect for little aspiring building safety professionals at home.

Advocating for Building Safety

By spreading the importance of adopting modern building codes and standards with public officials, you can contribute to preventing disasters such as structural collapse or fires and help mitigate the potential damage caused by events such as hurricanes or floods.

We’ve outlined five steps you can take to help make sure the places where we live, work, play and learn are safe:

• Identify the adopted building safety codes where you live. Visit the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes (FLASH) website and enter your zip code to learn more.
• Determine if your community has currently adopted up-to-date codes. Visit the Code Council’s code adoption map and Codes Save to learn more.
• Ask public officials to advocate for change. After you find your state’s information on the Code Council’s code adoption map, click on the blue button “State Information and Resources” to learn more.
• If improvements are needed, get ready to take action based on if the codes in your state are adopted at the state or local level.
• Ask for change and include a few talking points on why adopting and enforcing modern building codes is important.