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BWEA Health & Safety Seminar
Tuesday 29 January 2008
See full details.

Health & Safety

This area of the website provides a valuable health and safety resource for the wind energy industry. It is being developed and maintained by the BWEA Health & Safety Steering Group.

New HACA Fall Arrest System (Type 0529.7103) Successfully tested at TUV NEL
Further to the HSE warning (noted below) and the tests HSE based it on, which were conducted a TUV NEL, Glasgow, HACA has developed a new runner which underwent testing at TUV NEL earlier in the year and the statement from HACA can be found at http://www.haca.com/Fallschutzsystem-engl.pdf

Best Practice Guidelines for Wind Farm Owners and Operators
As the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA) enters its fourth decade and to coincide with its 4th annual Health & Safety conference on the 29 January 2008 the Association has decided to publish specific guidance on aspects of wind turbine integrity. Click here for details...

BWEA position statement on Lifts In Turbines
The UK Health and Safety Executive have been pushing the UK wind industry for blanket requirement for lifts in turbines. The BWEA H&S Steering Group commissioned TUV NEL to carry out a review of current legislation to inform BWEA members of actual requirement to be within the law.
The BWEA position statement (click here to download in PDF format) has been derived from the findings of the report and debate had within the steering group.

The work at height report and decision making framework is available in the members area.

 

Health & Safety Executive SAFETY WARNING: HACA fixed rail vertical fall arrest system.
HSE advises users to cease use of this particular device as a matter of urgency and consult with your safety adviser and supplier about a safe alternative. Please take the time to review the detail of the HSE alert which can be found at :- http://www.hse.gov.uk/falls/fixedrail011007.htm

Recent and current initiatives from the Health & Safety Steering Group include:

  • A risk-based decision making framework for turbine tower access systems commissioned from independent specialists to address the hierarchy of controls required under the 2005 Work at Height regulations and take a balanced view of risks through the turbine lifecycle (work in progress). Click here to download in PDF format.
  • BWEA Guidelines for Health and Safety in the wind industry (published 2005) are available to download in pdf format. These incorporate lessons learned from early experience in the UK offshore wind industry since they were initially published in 2002. A further review is underway to update the Guidelines in 2007. BWEA welcomes feedback on the Guidelines, so if you have queries or comments please forward them in the first instance to safety@bwea.com
  • A Training Accreditation Scheme for Offshore Winds Farms operated with support from an appointed Training Course Administrator
  • A set of Wind Turbine Safety Rules to apply to the operation of turbine electrical systems
  • A Lessons Learned Database of H&S Incidents and "Near Events" to promote better understanding of the H&S risks and necessary controls in the industry
  • Annual health and safety seminars, free to BWEA members, where information about the steering group initiatives and current industry developments is disseminated.

Congratulations Heightec on becoming BWEA's 2nd approved "Working and Rescue from Height Training" Course provider. BWEA has developed an accreditation scheme for training and has appointed OPITO (part of the COGENT Sector Skills Council) as its Training Course Administrator (TCA) with which it works in partnership. The TCA works with BWEA Training Standards Group to develop course syllabuses in the form of Training Standards. Training Providers prepare and deliver courses, which are subject to assessment and accreditation by the TCA on BWEA's behalf in accordance with a formal approval process. Persons completing courses are entered on to a training register maintained by the TCA on BWEA's behalf.

Graeme Cooper, BWEA Head of Grid, Health & Safety and Technical Affairs commented: "It has taken a lot of hard work and investment by Heightec and the BWEA's training standards sub group, but all that hard work has been rewarded by the 'approved status' being awarded this week. BWEA strongly recommends that only trained and accredited personnel are allowed to work on members' projects and urges all members to commit their support to the accreditation scheme. Well done to all the Heightec crew."

The third annual BWEA Safety Seminar was held 26th April 2007 at the Marriot Hotel in Glasgow. Over 200 Operational and Health and Safety professionals attended. The seminar focused on Health and Safety issues concerning the Wind Industry. Click here for more information and presentations.

If you have any thoughts on further content of this web site area please send your ideas to safety@bwea.com who will forward them to the appropriate industry group for consideration.

On behalf of the BWEA I hope you will have benefited from this new area of the web site which is being maintained to inform on Health and Safety topics that are vital to the sustained growth and success of our industry.

Why not bookmark this page, come back and follow the links so your business benefits from the ongoing developments?