by Shane Henson — August 15, 2012—The potential economic benefits of preventing work-related illness has been highlighted by new research on the construction of the Olympic Park and Olympic and Paralympic Village.
The research, Occupational Hygiene at the Olympic Park and Athletes’ Village, was commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), an independent, apolitical, international center of research and consultancy in human resource issues.
According to IES, it aimed to identify the potential economic benefits of preventing ill-health among the Olympic workforce through having a “health like safety” approach on site. This ensured that workplace health management was prioritized in the same way as safety, supported by an occupational hygiene team. The team of occupational health and occupational hygiene professionals provided a comprehensive service to those working on the site, with the aim of preventing and treating work-related illness.
Working with the leadership team and each project, the hygienists adopted a range of strategies to prevent work-related ill-health from occurring. They provided support on site so that design, method statements and risk assessments were created with a focus on eliminating and reducing exposure to health risks in the workplace. The service was free to all contractors and workers involved.
IES says it found the occupational hygiene team service did save contractors, employers, the government and individuals money by reducing the downtime involved in dealing with health risks, and by minimizing exposure to health risks, thereby reducing the costs of sickness absence and reducing the future costs of work-related illness.
IES says the “health like safety” approach adopted by the Olympic Park and the Village meant that managers, supervisors and workers could transfer their existing safety management skills to health. By adopting familiar mechanisms such as risk assessments, daily activity briefings and near-miss reporting to focus on health issues, the site was able to firmly place workplace health on the agendas of the contractors and workers involved, reportedly with excellent results.
