Al Rayyan Stadium marks 5mn man-hours safety milestone

Construction at Al Rayyan Stadium has reached a major milestone following the completion of more than 5mn man-hours without a Lost Time Accident.

The major construction safety landmark, which means no injuries that cause work on-site to be stopped have occurred in over 5mn hours worked, was celebrated with a ceremony led by Project ManagerAbdullah al-Fehani and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) team.More than 2,700 people currently work at Al Rayyan Stadium, a proposed host venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. It is scheduled for completion by mid-2019.Speaking as he awarded certificates to the contractors leading work on-site, al-Fehani said: "This is a major achievement that everyone working on-site should be proud of. Not only is it good for every one of us who gets to work in a safe environment, but enhanced health and safety also represents the real legacy of this World Cup that our HSSE team works hard to create."Yasir al-Jamal, Vice Chairman of the Technical Delivery Office; and Youssif al-Musleh, Competition Venues Executive Director, congratulated all for realising such an achievement.They were also both given a tour of the site, where sub- and super-structure works are now progressing.They commended the rapid progress being made in such a safe working environment. "Safety is paramount on our sites but this is an achievement we should all take a moment to appreciate," the vice chairman explained. "To reach such a milestone while making such rapid progress on-site is testament to the skill and dedication of everyone here and I want to thank you personally for your efforts."In addition to the ceremony, on-site HSSE officers held a safety day to further embed safe working practices within the workforce. Workshop sessions covered working at height, first aid, fire safety training and an updated power tool training from managers.Nigel Valvona, SC Site Construction Health & Safety Programme Manager, emphasised that safety continues to be a top priority for the SC, with over 83mn man-hours worked across all projects so far and an accident frequency rate of just 0.04 (0.03 over the last 12 months).He added: "Our mandate to Work Safe, Deliver Amazing guides us, but it's the work put in by the guys on-site day in, day out that makes these achievements possible. We've worked over 65mn hours on-site across the programme to-date, which is a major achievement in itself. But to do so with such a low accident frequency rate lower even than building sites in some Western nations is something we should all be proud of and celebrate."Certificates praising their achievements were handed out to Al Balagh Trading & Contracting Co. W.L.L. and Larsen & Toubro Limited, both Main Contractor Joint Venture Partners, as well as Louis Berger, Construction Supervision Consultant, and AECOM, Project Management Consultants.Al Rayyan Stadium, located about 20km west of Doha, will be a 40,000-seater stadium during the 2022 World Cup, hosting matches up to and including the quarter-finals.After the tournament, almost half of the stadium's 40,000 modular seats will be removed and given to football development projects abroad.The smaller post-tournament arena will enable popular Qatar Stars League side Al Rayyan to maintain the intense passion its fans are famous for.