Denmark: Keeping Offshore Wind Workers Safe

It’s tough to do onshore, tougher on wind farms built close to shore, but what of these farshore wind power plants? Can the industry cope with those challenges?

In June 2011 Claus Rose, in his role as Chairman of Global Wind Organisation told an audience at a conference organised by leading think tank Wind Energy Update (WEU) “Within the next 6-8 years £168 billion is to be spent in the UK alone on setting up turbines offshore…before we even include the rest of the North Sea. 140,000 people are needed to carry out this work, they can’t all come from the UK or Norway or Denmark or Germany, but they must have a common safety platform to work from.”

Rose neatly encapsulated the critical issue common to all health and safety (HSE) managers involved in offshore wind construction and operation today. Many more employees will work in hazardous environments, on projects that carry high levels of investment and tight project deadlines which could quickly create a high pressure situation. Every single person offshore needs to be recruited, trained, accounted for on a minute by minute basis and returned safely to rest at the end of the day.

Turbine manufacturers, foundation installers, sub-sea cable experts, grouting firms all need to be able to conduct their work safely whilst adhering to the rules of the site. What’s required are good technical processes to improve any H&S strategy regime.

Several companies all already able to boast an impeccable track record in this area. Whether they have worked on some of the more recent offshore wind projects or whether they have decades of experience retained internally from other offshore industries such as Oil and Gas, there is a wealth of knowledge that renewables can tap into.

WEU will host their annual conference once again this December, the leading dedicated B2B wind energy health and safety conference. The summit has a strong focus on overcoming the challenges posed moving further from shore, the sharing of experiences from leading developers such as RWE, RES, Statoil and Mainstream Renewable Power and a potent blend of both learning and networking with experienced HSE executives.

Suitable for any company involved or looking to enter the offshore wind market this event will allow attendees to implement a solid health and safety culture with the current and future regulation, personnel and access options.

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Offshore WIND staff, August 14, 2012; Image: siemens