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| By Lisa (originally posted to Flickr) via Wikimedia Commons |
The 2012 event was also the first in Olympic history to
see the completion of all construction projects without a single fatality. This
demonstrates a drastic improvement since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which had
10 construction fatalities and the 2004 Athens Olympics, which resulted in 14
building-related deaths.
Initial estimates of incident rates for the 2012 Olympics
prior to groundbreaking predicted that due to the number of workers and time
needed, three construction deaths and more than 500 serious injuries would be
likely. To prevent such outcomes, the Olympic Delivery Authority implemented several strategies to keep workers safe:
- Senior management, now referred to as the Safety Health Environmental Leadership team, was involved early on in the construction process.
- Prevention through design workshops were implemented to identify risks.
- Team leaders worked to communicate safety objectives with workers who didn’t speak English.
- Supervisors offered incentives and rewards to those who completed tasks safely and gave positive feedback regularly.
- An open, positive safety culture was created.
- Workers were encouraged to perform light stretching exercises before work to prepare for tasks.
- Workers were provided with an inexpensive breakfast to promote focusing on work and safety rather than being distracted by hunger after skipping breakfast.
- U.K. Occupational Health Services not only treated job injuries on site but also provided services to help workers develop healthy habits.
- Problems were consistently reviewed and communicated so that corrective actions could be implemented promptly.