Vancouver and beyond
VANOC consulted with the senior leadership team at WorkSafe BC, the province’s workplace safety regulator. Together they formed the first-ever partnership between an Olympic and Paralympic Games Organizing Committee and the health and safety regulator in its jurisdiction, with the goal of establishing a new level of health and safety awareness, monitoring and reporting for the 2010 Games and beyond.

Al Johnson, regional director, construction services at WorkSafe BC, assigned a WorkSafe BC officer to each of the venues to work with the workers on site. Part of each officer’s role was to raise safety awareness and educate the workforce on BC rules.

“VANOC brought together a lot of individuals to make up their organization,” says Johnson. “People at each venue, including managers, have done other Olympic Games. They know what they’re doing with respect to setting up and getting things done, but they don’t know as much regarding what we expect.”

There was a learning curve. Olympic workers had to understand what B.C. regulations say about the rights and responsibilities of managers, supervisors and workers, and how to incorporate health and safety into every aspect of the work. For example, a tent expert from Switzerland or a scaffold expert from Germany, who might not normally wear fall protection, would have to wear it in B.C. when working at heights.

WorkSafe BC did not do the training but ensured it was done according to B.C. law. While a partner, the department had a clear role as the enforcer. VANOC was the prime contractor and had a responsibility to ensure health and safety on each of its many worksites.

Wilson says one of the most pivotal things that resulted from the partnership was an orientation program called “Legacy of Safety.” Under this proactive health and safety program sponsored by WorkSafe BC, Games-specific health and safety awareness sessions would be mandatory for all VANOC employees, contractors and subcontractors, as well as for approximately 25,000 volunteers and, where possible, the employees of VANOC contractors.

Here’s where the legacy part comes in. As a safety culture was growing among the workforce, VANOC started tracking inspections and training since the start of its construction phase in 2006, so it would have something to pass along to the next Olympic Games. As a result, future organizing committees will have access to Vancouver’s safety training modules for Olympic construction crews and office workers, as well as all statistical information on VANOC’s safety record.

That kind of transparency has proven to be a positive safety trend in Canada. Oil and gas, mining and other sectors have achieved industry-wide safety improvements as employers have become more open to sharing information about work hazards, and even injury and fatality statistics.

The Legacy of Safety works in other ways, too. Besides benefitting future Games, VANOC aims to inspire other workplaces in B.C. with its program. Furthermore, much of what the Olympic workers have learned about safety could very well be passed along to other jobs in other parts of the world.

“We will have about 50,000 people, including paid staff, volunteers, third-party contractors, that have all had to pay attention to this higher level, this culture of safety,” Wilson says. “All those people will go off and work somewhere else.”