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Home to America’s first family and recognized as a symbol
of America’s pride the world over, the White House is truly
one-of-a-kind. Erected back in 1792, the White House needed extensive
renovations in the 1950s. The firm charged with the undertaking—a
Liberty Mutual policyholder— had to underpin the old walls
and build a new foundation without damaging any part of the legendary
building.
The renovation was a complicated operation. The contracting team
had to build a temporary steel support within the building before
beginning demolition, dig out a brand-new basement underneath
the existing building and install special supports for the steel
roof on the third floor. In addition, they installed dozens of
underground columns to shore up the structure. Damaging just one
of these columns would have brought the entire White House down
like a house of cards, making the work especially life threatening.
Applying unique preconstruction planning for safety techniques,
Liberty Mutual’s safety and health consultants pointed out
where accidents were most likely to happen during each phase of
the project. The team then designed controls that pinpointed potential
hazards and helped workers avoid them. For example, Liberty Mutual
recommended employees wear hard hats at all times— novel
advice back then, as most construction workers didn’t use
hard hats until much later.
The forward-thinking hard hat recommendation saved the life of
one worker who was struck by a large rock while working down in
one of the 25-foot-deep underpinning pits. And not a single injury
was reported during a complicated phase of the project involving
underground columns. All told, only a few of the 200 workers suffered
injuries—all of which were minor—over the course of
the project.
Copyright ©2009 Liberty
Mutual. All rights reserved. |
