Lawrence Waterman OBE CFIOSH is managing partner at the Park Health and Safety Partnership, and was formerly head of health and safety for the London Olympic Delivery Authority. He is past president of IOSH.
The scale is significant: we know that disasters at Hillsborough and Bradford City football stadiums led to profound changes in the management of sports grounds, the explosion and fire on the Piper Alpha rig changed the North Sea oil regime, and rail accidents such as the crash at Ladbroke Grove in 1999 forced greater control of railway maintenance.