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February 9, 2011

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Lax labour rules blamed for Olympic accidents

The head of construction workers’ union UCATT believes that weaker employment rules could be the reason for a higher frequency of accidents on the Olympic Village site compared with the Olympic Park.

The union has learned that the accident frequency rate (AFR) on the Athletes’ Village is 0.24 for every million man hours worked over the last three months of 2010. This compares with an AFR of 0.11 on the Olympic Park site, which, says UCATT, is a more complex construction project.

Extracts from a health and safety progress report for the entire site, covering the period from July to September 2010, show that there were 12 RIDDOR-reportable accidents over the period – four on the Olympic Park and eight on the Village.

At least one of the incidents on the Athletes’ Village – in which a worker fell from height while helping to dismantle a proprietary staircase and suffered a broken wrist and dislocated elbow – is under investigation by the HSE.

The disparity in the latest accident frequency rates between the Park and Village sites has been seized on by UCATT as evidence of the heightened safety risks it says are associated with casual-workforce arrangements.

In 2007, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and several trade unions signed a Memorandum of Agreement, which, although not legally binding, sought to implement a number of industrial-relations principles, including the direct employment of workers and guaranteed minimum construction wage rates.

Unlike the publicly-funded Olympic Park, the Athletes’ Village was originally expected to be financed by private investors and was therefore not covered by the Agreement. However, a lack of interest from the private sector forced the previous Labour government to pump millions of public money into the project, which the ODA subsequently took over. However, the Agreement was never amended to include the Village.

According to the union, the level of casualisation is demonstrated by workforce surveys, which show that 82 per cent of workers on the Olympic Park confirmed having received pay above the London Living Wage rate of £7.85 per hour, against 60 per cent of workers on the Olympic Village.

Said UCATT general secretary, Alan Ritchie: “The Olympics demonstrates categorically that there is a clear link between casual working practices and accidents in the construction industry. It is essential that measures are taken to improve safety and working conditions on the Olympic Village.”

The spate of incidents and near misses at the Village prompted ODA bosses to undertake a review of health and safety on the site. Conducted last September, the review identified a number of opportunities to improve the management of health and safety, including themed compliance reviews on access equipment and on void protection.

The progress report also confirms that “the focus on the Village will continue for the foreseeable future with the direct involvement of the head of H&S, working closely with the newly-appointed Lend Lease leader on H&S”.

Despite the concerns over safety, the overall safety record on the Olympic site, which is yet to suffer a fatal accident, is good.

Since 2006, the site has achieved 17 sets of a million hours worked without a reportable incident. A spokesperson for the ODA said: “We take health and safety extremely seriously on the Olympic Park and Village, which is why we have an accident frequency rate far lower than the industry average on both sites. In fact, the Village’s accident frequency rate is 65 per cent less than the industry average.
 
“However, we are not complacent, and are constantly seeking to further minimise the risk of any incidents. We do this in partnership with the contractors and this is monitored by the regulatory bodies, including the HSE.”
 

© Image: London 2012

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