THE SAFETY OF OCEAN WIND

Occupational safety: Offshore wind safer than onshore? Building and maintaining offshore wind farms is a risky business that has already claimed lives. But not for much longer.
Jason Deign, 16 May 2011 (Wind Energy Update)

"…According to newspaper reports…on November 12, 2009, a Dutchman became what appears to be the first-ever fatality in the offshore wind industry when a chain snapped on the tugboat Tycoon [working on the UK’s Greater Gabbard project]…Six months later Greater Gabbard claimed the life of Per Terp, a 42-year-old Siemens employee who was crushed by a 45-tonne wind turbine blade when the lifting frame that was supporting it broke aboard the jack up vessel Sea Jack.

"However…the number of reported fatalities in offshore wind is mercifully low. And the industry is waking up to the need to keep it that way…[Areas of concern are] lifting operations…[and] transfers from vessels to transition pieces, even though there have been few incidents so far in this area…"

click to enlarge

"Maintaining health and safety procedures is complicated by the fact that offshore construction often involves many layers and teams of contractors and subcontractors. In the rush to build out new farms, there is no guarantee all those involved have been properly trained…[Supervisors] need to be aware of the different health and safety issues involved in construction, where incidents are less likely but may be more serious, and operations, where they are more likely but less serious…

"…[M]ost of the risks [in construction] are well known and projects are tightly managed to ensure nothing goes wrong…In operations, however, the controls may be more lax [because of lesser dangers]…"

click to enlarge

"…[T]o minimise the chances of either [type of accident, developers should] learn what allied industries such as oil and gas know about offshore construction health and safety…[and] adopt the same practices…Offshore wind is indeed learning from oil and gas, and in many cases using the same contractors and experts…There are areas the oil and gas sectors have little experience in, however, such as working at heights, and which will need to be integrated into offshore wind’s best-practice handbook.

"…Siemens… has introduced a site safety programme that aims to keep senior management abreast of on-the-ground conditions so they can make decisions to reduce unnecessary complexity and cut the chance of incidents…[T]rade bodies such as RenewableUK…in collaboration with the European Wind Industry Association and the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Health and Safety Executive [have also contributed]…[Most think] wind power can be as safe offshore as it is on land, or even safer…[but] the greatest threat in offshore health and safety may be…old age…[Due to retirements,] the industry will soon have a major skills shortage of safety experts…"