At NECA, safety is more than a priority—it’s a core value. Every day, our contractors and their teams perform complex and often hazardous tasks to keep our world powered, connected and moving forward. From entry-level workers to our highest-level field professionals, the risks are real—and so is our responsibility to protect them.

That’s why NECA continues to lead the way in promoting a strong safety culture across the electrical construction industry. We are investing in education, developing cutting-edge training resources and advocating for stronger standards—all to ensure every worker gets home safely at the end of the day.

This May, as we recognize National Electrical Safety Month, we’re reminded that a collective focus on safety—both in the field and behind the scenes—is more important than ever. It’s a time to reflect, recommit and reenergize our efforts to create safer job sites across the country.

Something that keeps me up at night is the mental health of our workers. The construction industry has a suicide rate that is as much as four times higher than the general population, according to a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC data also notes that the industry has a suicide rate five times greater than that of all other work-related fatalities in the industry—for every 100,000 male construction workers, 56 died by suicide in 2022. I am proud of the work we have done to bring this issue out in the open. We helped co-create a #988 chip to hand out to workers across America. Meanwhile, we participated in the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose, a nationwide call-to-action to increase training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications.

Whether it’s through our NECA Safety Recognition Programs, new training initiatives or partnerships with labor and industry, NECA is working every day to make sure the physical and mental safety of our workers remains the foundation of everything we build.

Because nothing we build is more important than the people who build it.

David Long
NECA CEO