Omran, a leading tourism-related development company, said it has achieved more than 11 million man-hours without a lost-time injury at the Asian Beach Games (ABG) site in Musannah, Muscat even as the project nears completion.

The milestone was passed as the project reached 830 days of construction, since work began in June 2008, the company said in a statement.

Contractors on site include Larson & Toubro, Pico International, Oryx, Carillion Alawi, WS Atkins and Faithful & Gould. Today, there are more than 2,145 workers currently on site, it added.

Omran marked the new man-hours milestone with a big celebration at the site in the presence of its senior officials and the contractors and consultants working on ABG project.

The company and its contractors passed 10 million hours without a lost-time accident during Ramadan and the 11 million hours landmark was reached after Eid, revealed Wael bin Ahmed Al Lawati, CEO of Omran.

'This is an outstanding achievement and I warmly congratulate our supervisors, our contractors and all the workers on site.'

'We started this project with a wholehearted commitment to safety throughout the life of the project and I am delighted that we continue to celebrate accident-free progress,' he added.

According to him, the achievement comes as a result of Omran’s commitment to the safety of its staff and contractors, and to its implementation of a comprehensive Health Safety Security & Environment (HSSE) programme.

The programme includes training for all staff in HSSE; daily inspections of all aspects of the site including scaffolding, electrics and machinery; and a daily ‘tool box talk’ with staff before work begins, it stated. A clinic with a full-time doctor is also operational on site, he added.

“Now all our efforts are focused on reaching the completion and handover of the project to the organizing committee, by November, with this record intact,” said Al Lawati.

The news came as Omran reported the ABG site project was more than 96 per cent complete and fully on track for its handover to the Muscat Asian Beach Games Organising Committee (MABGOC) by November.

The games command centre has already been handed over and further elements are at snagging stages, Al Lawati said

“All the permanent structures are complete or within the 98-99 per cent complete range. We are now putting the finishing structures to those structures and focusing our efforts on the temporary structures and the soft landscaping,' he added.

Following this handover, MABGOC will use the site to host the second Asian Beach Games, from December 8-16. The games will welcome more than 5,000 athletes and officials from 45 nations, who will participate in 14 different games.

Following the games, Omran will utilise the site, to create a mixed-use residential, commercial and tourism destination, Al Lawati added.-TradeArabia News Service