“Learn from the Past, Build for Tomorrow” is the Theme for Building Safety Month Week Three

Disaster Preparedness Ensures Safe and Resilient Homes, Businesses and Communities

Making sure your family is prepared for any natural disaster is important. Your actions can ensure that no matter what Mother Nature brings, you, your family and your community will be safe and resilient.

Since 1980 and founded by the International Code Council, Building Safety Month has been an annual public safety awareness campaign to help individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe and sustainable structures. The theme for week three of Building Safety Month 2016, May 16-22, is “Learn from the Past, Build for Tomorrow.”

“The Boy Scouts of America have the motto, ‘Be Prepared,’ and it applies to disaster preparedness, as well,” said ICC Board of Directors President Alex Olszowy, III, with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government in Lexington, Ky. “It is so easy to forget about keeping up with items we may hardly ever use, such as first-aid kits, bottled water, dry goods, flashlights and spare batteries. You just don’t know when you might be without the amenities we have become accustomed to.”

Here are a few tips to follow from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes when preparing your family for any emergency:

• Develop a family disaster plan that includes a list of food and water supplies needed for each member of your family and supplies for your pets. Make copies of important documents like insurance policies, the deed to your home, and other personal papers, important phone numbers and a home inventory. Create a checklist of important things to do before, during and after a disaster.
• Review your evacuation route and emergency shelter locations with your family. Options for evacuation would include staying with friends and relatives, seeking commercial lodging, or staying in a mass care facility operated by disaster relief groups in conjunction with local authorities.
• Taking shelter is critical in times of disaster. Sheltering in place is appropriate when conditions require that you seek protection in your home, place of employment, or other location where you are when disaster strikes.

Review your plan regularly. If you make changes that affect the information in your disaster plan, update it immediately.

Major sponsors the American Wood Council, BOMA International, Simpson Strong-Tie, the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute, and the Softwood Lumber Board provide several resources for families and communities to learn from the past and build a safer tomorrow. Read more.

About the International Code Council

The International Code Council is a member-focused association. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures. Most U.S. communities and many global markets choose the International Codes.