Here’s the press release:

Expo Line Achieves Rare Construction Safety Performance Goal

Expo Crews Have No Lost Time Injuries in Over 3,000,000 Hours Worked

Los Angeles, CA (December 22, 2010) – Since 2006, construction crews have spent more than 3,000,000 work hours constructing Phase 1 of the Expo Line. No lost time injuries occurred during this time, a remarkable achievement by industry standards.

“This is a rare goal in the industry,” said James Brown, Expo Line Director of Construction Safety, “and all crews should be very proud of this accomplishment.”

For comparison, the U.S. Civil Construction Average Project Injury Rate for 2009 was 13.1 non-fatal injuries per 100 workers per year (U.S. Department of Labor). The Expo Project Injury Rate was only 2.03 non-fatal injuries per 100 workers per year. In a normal statistical distribution, this would put Expo Line safety performance above the 95th percentile of large projects in the U.S.

Construction of Phase 1 of the Expo Line, from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City, is approximately 80 percent complete and initial service is expected to begin in 2011, with service to Culver City in 2012. Phase 2 of the project will extend the line out to Santa Monica, with construction scheduled to begin next year and open by 2015.

For more information about the Expo Line please visit our new website at www.BuildExpo.org<http://www.buildexpo.org/>. For information about Phase 1 construction, go to www.BuildExpo.org/Construction<http://www.buildexpo.org/Construction>.