The interim Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) will put health and safety issues at the core of the Olympic project, Jack Lemley, chairman-designate of the authority, said yesterday.
Speaking at a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conference in London, Lemley said the ODA was in discussions with the NHS about how Olympic park construction workers site could receive on-site health checks.
“We want to redefine health and safety provision – away from simply managing risk to actively promoting the future health and wellbeing of all those involved in the programme,” he said.
The ODA is expected to employ about 7,000 construction workers at the Olympic park site in East London from 2009 onwards.
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“It is impossible to manage out all risk on a project of this scale, but I want a pro-health and no-accident culture,” Lemley said. He pledged to provide on-site occupational health workers.
Construction workers make up just 5% of London’s workforce, yet account for 50% of fatal injuries and nearly 20% of major injuries in the capital’s workplaces, a report by the London Assembly revealed last year.
