Workplace health provisions just as important as safety
measures
Health & Safety update 14/05/2012
The overall health of workers on construction projects should be
considered just as important as their immediate safety, according
to new research from the Institute for Employment Studies
(IES).
The research, which was carried out for the Health and Safety
Executive (HSE) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), found
that the occupational health provision covering the construction of
the Olympic Park and Village contributed to an extremely low
accident rate and excellent worker efficiency.
The head of health and safety at the ODA, Lawrence Waterman,
said that their comprehensive occupational health programme offered
free support and advice to all contractors from a
multi-disciplinary team of nurses, physicians, physiotherapists and
occupational hygienists.
“We know that many more workers have their health damaged at
work than are injured in accidents, and with IES’s professional
scrutiny we now have clear evidence that our programme was an
investment that yielded tangible positive rewards,” Waterman said.
“The business case for occupational health has never looked
stronger.”
He said that they hoped that the lessons from the health
programme would be one of the enduring legacies of the Olympics in
London. The survey of its impact drew on responses from workers and
managers on the Olympic Park and Village construction projects, as
well as interviews with other stakeholders.
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