London 2012 blog

I’m the Project Manager working on the demolition phase on the Olympic Park. I assist with the preparation of all risk assessments, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSSH) assessments and method statements (instructions on how to safely perform a task) which have to be in place before any work is undertaken.

Immediately before work starts it is my job to brief the workforce on the operation they are about to undertake, to emphasise the risks that I’ve assessed they may encounter, detail to them the control measures I’ve put in place to minimise these risks, and ensure each operative has the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) to comply with the task without exposing them to any injury.

Me (on the right) meeting with ODA Chairman John Armitt in front of one of the demolished bus garages:



During the demolition operations it’s my responsibility to monitor all the activities to ensure everyone is doing everything in accordance with the method statement. All of the day-to-day paperwork (the boring bit), task briefings, tool box talks, plant and equipment register, scaffold inspections and all health and safety documentation is also my responsibility.

Surprisingly, I haven’t been doing this job for long at all. You see, by trade I’m actually a building surveyor. 30 years in construction designing and building houses, blocks of flats, hotels, hospitals, oil rigs, blocks of offices then, by chance, not by design, I got into demolition in 1998 and its all gone down hill since then! Ha ha  

The best thing about working here is when people learn I’ve been in construction for 30 years before demolition. I am often asked if I have demolished anything I have previously built. Until now the answer had always been no, but in 1975 I designed and installed a main frame computer batch terminal for the north east London polytechnic at their Livingstone house annex, E15 (Livingstone house was built circa 1933 by British Imperial Tobacco, it was the old Carreras "Kensitas" cigarette factory). It was in the south of the park and was one of the first buildings to be demolished by us.

Having lived in east London on and off over the past 47 years, and knowing the area before the Olympic bid was awarded, the Games really mean something to me personally. I see the Games as a lifeline to 500 acres of a formerly blighted landscape.