Olympics Construction Wins Major RoSPA Award
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents presented the Diamond Jubilee Award to the Olympic Delivery Authority on May 15, the same day the London 2012 Athletes' Committee gave its seal of approval to the Olympic and Paralympic Village.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) presented the Diamond Jubilee Award to the Olympic Delivery Authority on May 15 for its excellent safety and health record during the Big Build construction phase for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which will begin July 27. The award marks Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee; she is RoSPA's patron.
The presentation in Birmingham during the first day of RoSPA's Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2012 celebration was made by RoSPA officials including Chief Executive Tom Mullarkey to Dennis Hone, ODA's chief executive, and Lawrence Waterman, ODA's head of health and safety.
The London 2012 Athletes' Committee also met for the final time ahead of the games on May 15 and gave its seal of approval to the completed Olympic and Paralympic Village.
The Big Build projected at its peak involved 12,500 workers. About 62 million hours of work were done with an accident frequency rate of 0.17 per 100,000 hours, less than half what Britain's construction industry averages, and no accident-related fatalities occurred on the site.
"It is only right that in our patron's Diamond Jubilee year, we have been able to pick out one special organization, the Olympic Delivery Authority, whose contribution to safety in the UK is now an exemplar to the whole world," Mullarkey said. "The ODA's approach to occupational health in particular provides a shining example that the construction industry at large could learn from and follow. In addition, the fact that the Big Build was completed without an accident-related fatality is tribute to the leadership and organization of the ODA in the most testing operational conditions. We are so pleased that her majesty has consented to this unique award, and we hope it will be a foretaste of a wonderful summer of celebration for our country."
"We are honoured to receive such a prestigious award in recognition of the health and safety achievements of our workforce," Hone said. "The safety of the teams delivering the London 2012 venues and infrastructure has always been our number one priority and by creating a culture of teamwork and individual responsibility, incidents have been few and far between. We are rightly proud of having delivered the project with an accident frequency rate that is half the construction industry average."