Updated: October 28, 2025
Building a thriving safety culture takes ongoing effort, not just bare bones compliance.
Looking for a way to keep safety top of mind and engage employees? Look no further than safety week – a week dedicated to celebrating and learning about workplace safety.
Safety week works for companies of all sizes and industries, including remote and hybrid teams. To learn how to make your safety week a success, listen to MEM’s Tisha Greco and Caitlin Way discuss their experience planning safety week. They share practical tips for creating activities that balance fun with meaningful safety education.
Then, read on for a detailed action plan to start working on your own safety week.
Quick look: Your safety week planning timeline
| 8-12 weeks before | ☑️ Identify safety priorities ☑️ Form planning team ☑️ Set budget and goals ☑️ Choose theme (optional) |
| 4-6 weeks before | ☑️ Finalize activity schedule ☑️ Book any external speakers (if applicable) ☑️ Order materials and prizes ☑️ Create communication plan |
| 2-3 weeks before | ☑️ Send announcement and calendar to employees ☑️ Prep toolbox talks and safety materials ☑️ Confirm catering or food trucks (if applicable) |
| 1 week before | ☑️ Send reminder email and calendar invitations ☑️ Print handouts and signage ☑️ Send press release to local media |
| During safety week | ☑️ Execute daily activities ☑️ Take photos for promotion |
| After safety week | ☑️ Collect employee feedback ☑️ Review feedback and document lessons learned ☑️ Schedule next year’s safety week |
What is safety week?
Safety week is a dedicated period of focusing on workplace safety through engaging activities, training refreshers, and policy reviews. Unlike your regular safety meetings, safety week brings together multiple activities and initiatives to create momentum and emphasizes that safety is a priority worth dedicating time and resources to.
You can adapt safety week to any workplace size or industry. Small businesses might focus on daily toolbox talks and policy reviews, while larger organizations might add games, speakers, and fundraising elements.
Remote workforce? No problem. Virtual activities like online quizzes, small group discussions, and digital policy reviews keep remote employees plugged in.
☑️ The bottom line: Safety week keeps safety top of mind and shows employees you’re invested in their wellbeing.
Why your workplace needs a safety week
More than 4 million preventable workplace injuries happen every year in the U.S., with the same top causes year after year:
- Overexertion
- Contact with objects and equipment
- Slips, trips, and falls
These injuries happen when people get complacent about safety measures. Even in low-risk office environments, one claim can have a lasting impact on your experience modification rate (e-mod) – affecting your premium for years.
Safety week addresses this complacency and delivers benefits that extend far beyond injury prevention:
- Showing employees you care about their safety, boosting morale and retention
- Introducing new hires to safety culture and expectations
- Refreshing employees on procedures they may have forgotten or started taking shortcuts around
- Identifying gaps and improvement opportunities in your safety program
“It can be a way to change the culture,” Greco explained, “and have more safety experts running around.”
📍 Learn more about the benefits of a strong safety culture: Foundations of a Workplace Safety Program >
Plan your safety week in 4 steps
How can you plan a successful safety week in your own organization? Follow these four steps to create an organized event that engages employees and strengthens your safety culture.
Step 1: Identify your safety priorities
Start by understanding where your company needs the most improvement. Ask:
- What are the most common injuries at my company? In my industry?
- Have I noticed any problem behaviors or safety-related trends?
- If I had a magic wand, all our employees would follow these three safety rules…
- Do my employees face any barriers to complying with safety policies? How can I address those?
- What feedback do I need from employees about our safety policies and procedures?
Analyze your incident history and gather input from employees and supervisors. These insights will help you choose the most relevant activities and topics for your safety week.
Step 2: Build your planning team
One person can plan a safety week, but assembling a small team reduces the burden on any one individual (and it’s more fun). Getting others involved shares the workload and increases buy-in across your organization.
Your planning team might include:
- A management representative who can secure resources and leadership support
- Safety and risk specialists
- Frontline employees who do the work and understand their peers’ perspectives
Assign roles based on accountabilities like:
- Communication
- Activity coordination
- Budget and logistics
💡 Pro tip: Getting leadership buy-in early is crucial since they’ll need to support employees stepping away from regular duties to participate.
Step 3: Create your activity schedule
Balance education with engagement. You’re not stopping operations for a full week; you’re building safety activities into the workday with sessions lasting 10-30 minutes each.
Consider:
- Different shifts and locations. Repeat activities so all employees can participate, regardless of their schedule.
- Remote and hybrid employees. Choose activities that work virtually or have virtual alternatives.
- Your busiest periods. Avoid planning safety week during peak season when participation would suffer.
- A theme (optional). Themes like “tailgate,” “game show,” or “carnival” can make activities feel more cohesive and fun, but they’re not necessary for success.
Budget considerations
How much should you budget for safety week? Costs can vary widely based on company size and chosen activities. Here’s what to expect:
Estimated cost per employee: $10-50
| Item | Estimated cost range |
| Prizes and gift cards | $10-25 per employee |
| Food and refreshments | $10-15 per employee |
| Materials (handouts, signage, games) | $3-5 per employee |
| External speakers or vendors (optional) | $200-$1,000+ |
| Charitable donation (optional) | Any amount |
A basic safety week with toolbox talks, policy reviews, and simple games costs $500-$1,000 for a 30-person company. Adding catered lunches or substantial prizes increases costs.
☑️ The bottom line: You can make safety week work even with a limited budget. Start small in your first year, prove success, and then expand as you learn what resonates with your employees.
Step 4: Communicate early and often
Leave plenty of time to build anticipation and ensure employees understand how to participate.
Your communication plan should include:
- 8-12 weeks before: Initial announcement to leadership and planning team
- 4-6 weeks before: Company-wide announcement with overview and theme
- 2-3 weeks before: Activity calendar distributed to all employees (free calendar templates from Canva)
- 1 week before: Reminder email with detailed schedule and calendar invitations for major events
- During the week: Daily reminders and updates about that day’s activities
For remote employees, use email, internal chat, and video calls. For on-site employees, hang posters and calendars in break rooms and common areas.
Safety week is also great for your company’s reputation. Send a press release to local media outlets to share how your business prioritizes employee safety and community involvement.
🔽 Download and customize: Safety Week Press Release Template >
8 engaging safety week ideas: activities for employees
These safety week activities strike a balance between education and engagement. Most take 30 minutes or less and can be adapted for in-person, remote, or hybrid teams. Choose 3-5 activities that fit your workplace and safety priorities.
1. Monday morning safety kickoff
⏱️ Time: 20-30 minutes
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes
What you need: Speaker (leadership team member), talking points, compelling statistics or stories
How it works:
- Gather all employees to explain the week’s purpose and preview activities
- Share statistics about workplace injuries in your industry or success stories from your own company
- Have a leadership team member emphasize that safety is a priority worth dedicating time to
- Set the tone that every employee plays a role in workplace safety
2. Daily toolbox talks
⏱️ Time: 5-10 minutes per day
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes
What you need: Toolbox talk discussion guides relevant to your industry
How it works:
- Choose five different safety topics (one for each day of the week)
- Supervisors lead short safety meetings with their teams each morning
- Encourage questions and ask employees to share real-world examples
- Keep discussions conversational, not lecture-style
No time to create discussion guides? We’ve got you covered with 40+ free toolbox talks covering common workplace hazards >
3. Safety policy review and acknowledgment
⏱️ Time: 15-20 minutes
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes (digital signatures)
What you need: Current safety policies, signature forms or digital platform
How it works:
- Supervisors review safety key policies with their teams, focusing on the “why” behind safety rules
- Address common concerns and answer employee questions
- Employees acknowledge they’ve reviewed and understood policies with their signature
- File acknowledgments for your records
💡 Pro tip: This is a great time for management to review and update policies before sharing them with employees. Here are 8 essential safety policies (with free templates).
4. Interactive safety quiz game
⏱️ Time: 30-45 minutes
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes
What you need: Game platform (we like Kahoot, but many video meeting tools have native features you can use), safety questions covering your policies and procedures, small prizes
How it works:
- Create teams of 3-5 employees for friendly competition
- Ask safety trivia questions about your workplace safety policies, industry hazards, and proper procedures
- Real-time scoring keeps energy high and creates engagement
- Award prizes to top-performing teams
5. Impairment demonstration
⏱️ Time: 10-15 minutes per person
🏠 Remote-friendly: No (requires physical participation)
What you need: Impairment goggles (often available from state safety offices or safety suppliers), simple obstacle course or tasks
How it works:
- Set up a basic task like walking a straight line, riding a tricycle, or picking up specific objects
- Participants complete the task normally, then repeat wearing impairment goggles
- Experience firsthand how impairment affects judgment, coordination, and reaction time
- Discuss implications for workplace safety and substance use policies
💡 Why it works: Experiencing simulated impairment creates powerful “aha moments” that lectures about substance use policies simply can’t match. It’s memorable and often starts important conversations.
6. Workplace safety scavenger hunt
⏱️ Time: 30-60 minutes
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes, with modifications (virtual home office safety audits)
What you need: Scavenger hunt checklist with safety items, procedures, or potential hazards to identify
How it works:
- Create teams of 3-5 employees
- Teams work together to locate safety equipment, identify proper procedures, or spot hazards
- Include questions that require employees to demonstrate safety knowledge
- First team to complete the checklist correctly wins
- Use findings to identify real hazards that need addressing
💡 Pro tip: For remote teams, adapt this to home office safety. Have employees check their workspace for ergonomic setup, clear walkways, proper lighting, functioning smoke detectors, and adequate ventilation. This extends your safety culture beyond your physical workplace.
7. Break room games
⏱️ Time: Self-paced throughout the week
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes (send digitally)
What you need: Word searches or crossword puzzles featuring safety terms (keep it simple!), small prize for drawing
How it works:
- Leave puzzle sheets in break rooms, common areas, or email to remote employees
- Employees complete puzzles on their own time during breaks
- Collect completed puzzles throughout the week
- Everyone who completes a puzzle is entered in a prize drawing at week’s end
8. Visual safety reminders
⏱️ Time: Ongoing throughout the week
🏠 Remote-friendly: Yes (digital versions)
What you need: Safety posters or infographics covering your week’s key themes
How it works:
- Hang posters in high-traffic areas like entrances, break rooms, restrooms, and near equipment
- Email digital versions to remote employees or post on internal communication platforms
- Ensure visuals reinforce the specific topics you’re covering in other activities
- Leave posters displayed beyond safety week for continued reinforcement
💡 Pro tip: Rotate posters quarterly to prevent the “wallpaper effect” – where employees stop noticing them. Fresh visuals maintain attention and engagement with safety messages.
Browse our free posters: Prevent Slips and Trips | Distracted Driving | Drug-Free Workplace | Personal Protective Equipment | View all >
Optional: Add a fundraising element
Including a charitable component can boost employee engagement and leadership buy-in. When safety week benefits the broader community, employees often participate more enthusiastically.
At MEM, we support Kids’ Chance, a nonprofit supporting the education of children whose parents were seriously injured or killed on the job. This connection reinforces why workplace safety matters beyond compliance.
“It just became a little bigger than us when we started doing stuff like that,” reflected Greco. “It helps you feel justified in asking your employees to get away from their desk when it’s bigger than just your company.”
Fundraising activity ideas:
- Bake sale or dessert auction. Ask employees to bake and donate treats. Sell individually wrapped items or auction larger desserts to the highest bidder.
- 5K walk/run. Charge an entry fee and provide post-race snacks or water bottles. This works well for both in-person and virtual participation.
- Games with entry fees. Cornhole, bunco, bingo, or card games where half the pot goes to winners and half to your chosen nonprofit.
- Silent auction. Partner with local businesses to donate items or services for auction.
- Food truck fundraiser. Invite food trucks to your parking lot during lunch, with vendors donating a portion of proceeds.
➡️ Learn more about Kids’ Chance or identify a nonprofit in your community whose mission aligns with workplace safety and employee well-being.
Make your safety week a success
These final strategies will help you maximize participation, learn from your first attempt, and build lasting momentum beyond the week itself.
Get employees involved in planning
Seeking employee input increases buy-in and surfaces ideas you might not have considered.
Ask for input on:
- Which activities sound most engaging
- What time of day works best for participation
- What barriers might prevent participation (shift work, production deadlines, remote location)
- What safety topics they’d like to learn more about
Consider creating teams to host different activities. When employees take ownership of an activity, they’re more invested in its success and naturally encourage their coworkers to participate.
Start small and scale up
“The first step is to start small,” advised Way. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew if it’s your first time. Pick a couple of activities that you think people would enjoy, get input on them, and make those a success.”
For your first safety week, choose 2-3 simple activities:
- Monday kickoff meeting
- Daily 10-minute toolbox talks
- Safety policy review and acknowledgment
Learn what resonates with your company culture. Gather employee feedback and build on what worked. Then, add more activities in the following years as you gain confidence and experience.
Keep the momentum going
Safety week shouldn’t be the only time you talk about safety. Use the momentum to strengthen your ongoing safety culture with:
- Monthly safety briefs: Short reminders about one specific safety topic
- Quarterly refresher activities: Mini versions of popular safety week activities
- Continuous improvement: Adjust your safety program based on incident trends and employee feedback
- Everyday conversations: Encourage supervisors to discuss safety regularly, not just during formal meetings
When safety becomes part of your everyday culture rather than an annual event, you’ll see the greatest reduction in incidents and the strongest employee engagement.
Putting it all together + resources to get started
Safety week is an investment in your employees and your business. By dedicating time and focus to workplace safety, you show that employee well-being isn’t just a policy on paper; it’s a priority worth your time, resources, and attention.
Here are some resources from our free library to start planning today:
📚 Toolbox talks
Access 50+ topics covering common workplace hazards with 5-10 minute discussion guides for both industry-specific and general topics.
📋 Sample safety policies
Download customizable policy templates covering seat belt usage, cell phone and driving, alcohol and substance use, and incident reporting.
📊 Safety posters and infographics
Print ready-to-use visuals covering slips, trips, and falls prevention, injury-free workplaces, drug-free workplace, and distracted driving.
🎯 Additional planning tools
- Safety week press release template
- Activity calendar templates via Canva
Frequently asked questions: Hosting safety week
How long does it take to plan a safety week?
Give yourself 8-12 weeks for your first safety week. This allows time to form a planning team, choose activities, order materials, and communicate with employees. Once you’ve hosted one successfully, subsequent years take less preparation since you can reuse what worked and refine what didn’t.
How much does a safety week cost?
Budget $10-50 per employee, depending on your chosen activities. A basic safety week with toolbox talks, policy reviews, and simple games costs $300-$700 for a 30-person company. Adding catered meals or substantial prizes increases costs. Start small and expand over time.
What if I only have 10 employees?
Safety week scales to any company size. Smaller companies can create more intimate, engaging experiences with higher participation rates. Focus on 2-3 core activities, keep logistics simple, and emphasize team discussion over elaborate productions. Many activities – toolbox talks, policy reviews, safety quizzes – work perfectly for small teams.
Can remote or hybrid companies host a safety week?
Absolutely. Many activities adapt well to virtual settings: toolbox talks via video call, digital policy acknowledgments, online quizzes, safety bingo sent via email, and virtual safety discussions. For hybrid teams, offer in-person activities for on-site employees with simultaneous virtual options for remote employees. Safety scavenger hunts can become home office safety audits for remote participants.
When is the best time of year for a safety week?
Choose timing based on your business rhythm. Popular options include:
- June (National Safety Month provides built-in awareness and resources)
- August (often aligns with OSHA’s Safe and Sound Week)
- Your slower season when employees can more easily step away from work
How do I measure if my safety week was successful?
Track both immediate engagement and long-term outcomes:
Immediate metrics:
- Participation rates in each activity
- Employee feedback survey results
- Policy acknowledgment completion rates
Long-term metrics:
- Incident rates in the 6-12 months following safety week
- Safety meeting attendance in subsequent months
- E-mod trends over time
- Employee retention rates
The most successful safety weeks combine high engagement with measurable improvements in safety behaviors and outcomes.