The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents presented the Diamond Jubilee Award to the Olympic Delivery Authority last night.

Construction of the main 2012 venues involved around 62 million hours of work with an Accident Frequency Rate of 0.17 per 100,000 hours – less than half the construction industry average.

The project was also completed without an accident-related construction fatality.

Tom Mullarkey, chief executive of RoSPA, said: “It is only right that in our Patron’s Diamond Jubilee year, we have been able to pick out one special organisation – the Olympic Delivery Authority – whose contribution to safety in the UK is now an exemplar to the whole world.

“The ODA’s approach to occupational health in particular, provides a shining example that the construction industry at large could learn from and follow”

Dennis Hone, ODA chief executive, said: “We are honoured to receive such a prestigious award in recognition of the health and safety achievements of our workforce.

“The safety of the teams delivering the London 2012 venues and infrastructure has always been our number one priority and by creating a culture of teamwork and individual responsibility, incidents have been few and far between.

“We are rightly proud of having delivered the project with an accident frequency rate that is half the construction industry average.”

Brendan Barber, Trades Union Congress general secretary, said: “The task facing the construction industry now is to learn from the Olympics and to make this the new benchmark.”