Olympic countdown

 
On each of the construction projects to date – right up to and including Beijing 2008 – fatalities have been recorded in pursuit of that all important and immovable deadline.

To put it another way, if you take the industry norms and apply it to the number of man‑hours currently predicted to finish London 2012 (approximately 70 million in total) that would equate to potentially four site deaths. So how do you prevent that – and make the London Games the safest ever?

According to Louise Hardy, infrastructure director from delivery partner CLM (a consortium made up of CH2M Hill, Laing O’Rourke and Mace) the only way to ensure that this doesn’t happen is to change the culture.

“You realise that it has to work through everyone involved in the build – from the leadership right the way down to the 12,000 people or so you’re trying to influence on site.”

True power

At its peak London had 12,000 workers on site and a further 500 vehicle movements in and out of the Park daily. Therefore it was vitally important to get everyone on side quickly and communicate the vision to each of the key partners.

“We wanted to make sure as delivery partner that we did not to disinvest those people who have the true power and responsibility,” she says.

This meant creating a sense of community – and a collective responsibility towards achieving the desired outcome of safety at all times.

“If contractor A had an accident that affected the total accident frequency rate for the Park everybody felt a sense of ownership for that,” Louise adds.

Challenge issues

On a programme level Louise and her team were responsible for implementing the strategy or vision. On a project level their role was to ask the appropriate questions, challenge, and at times, be intolerant, particularly on issues of health and safety.

“To wave away an incident and say we’ve dealt with it was not sufficient; it’s not far enough above the common standard to ensure we’re not going to kill somebody,” she says.

“We were there as the glue that brought everything together and assisted the contractors. But we were also prepared to act as the final arbiter if needed.”

So more ‘facilitative’ than invisible? Yes, she says, the idea was to prompt and suggest.

This was where the role of the supervisor – or safety champion – really came to the fore.

Within each contracting organisation the supervisor was seen as the pivotal figure, controlling and cajoling a group of operatives. For the project managers involved they were the right hand in delivery terms.

“We realised we needed to train and track supervisors, from Tier 1 to 3,” says Louise. “They were the ones at the sharp end dealing with safety issues day in day out.

“If we could get them on-side, we knew we were on to a winner.”

Raise the bar

Fortunately, no great leap of faith was required. Although branded differently, the ‘zero harm’ message – including good practice and behaviours – was essentially the same from one contractor to the next.

So the aim was to tweak it and then raise the bar.

Working closely with contractors, the CLM team met to discuss the latest issues and produce messaging (or briefing sheets) to capture the essence of what was discussed.

Contractors – and subsequently, supervisors – were then free to use the materials at their own ‘stand-down’ meetings adding their own twist, culture or personality.

The resulting two-page document was a far cry from the original maze of methods‑statements and documentation. “Previously, safety documentation was getting into War and Peace,” recalls Louise.

Lasting legacy

Now, with the Park project virtually complete – and no reported deaths or serious injuries – is it fair to say the original safety goals have been realised? Not quite – there’s still a way to go.

Away from the site, the next stage is to take the culture and systems generated on H&S, together with the lessons learned, trimmed down method statements, supervisor training etc, and apply it to the next job.

On site, as the project moves from construction to venue fit out, it’s vitally important that the same lessons are passed down – and continuity retained. People coming onsite for short periods only present a very different challenge, says Louise.

Again it falls on the project manager to respond to the changing situation. Their remit is to enter into a facilitative dialogue and work on the areas that are achievable, in the timeframe allowed.

“The tail end of the job is often to capture the lessons learned but also ensure the transition to owner and operator is effective,” says Louise.

“While there’s work on site, you can never say you’re finished.”

What I learnt…

“There is a great beauty in having a programme with a long time span because you can plan for year one, two and three instead of the usual two. We had time to get to know everyone and work them into the process.”

Beware the twilight zone

Ongoing monitoring of site activities revealed a worrying trend in the number of ‘near misses’; the result of the dreaded ‘twilight’ effect, says Louise.

“Major incidents tend to occur at the twilight or in the last quarter of that job. I think complacency sets in and people get used to their environment. It’s just a natural human condition to start thinking about the next job.”

Fortunately, the types of incidents recorded were quite low level resulting in minor injuries such as slips, trips and falls.

But in order to stay on top and keep things fresh the team constantly looked at new ways to re-engage.

“We organised supervisor conferences and workshops to underline their importance to the safety of the project,” adds Louise.

“We even introduced tee shirts and badges with a positive message – anything to keep it safe.”

A rounded individual

“At the front end you can’t be dictatorial,” says Louise, commenting on the qualities needed to manage the Olympic project.

“A very cut and thrust, hard PM was never going to last too long; it had to be someone quite rounded.” The breadth of skills required was always going to be quite unusual due to the challenging nature of the project. Unlike more traditional projects, London 2012 wasn’t simply about the build. It was much broader than that. “Equality, sustainability, health and safety were never presented as add-ons,” explains Louise. “They were as implicit as building the Olympic Stadium or Velodrome.

“Project managers were expected to deal with each evolving aspect – and get the job done.”