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Health & Safety

Wind Turbines Safe System of Work

The RenewableUK (formerly BWEA) Wind Turbine Safety Rules (WTSR) have been developed by wind farm owners and operators to formalise a safe system of work for operational wind turbines (onshore and offshore). The WTSR procedures should be followed in order that persons working on wind turbines are safeguarded from the inherent dangers from the installed electrical and mechanical equipment.

A typical Wind Farm consists of two distinct systems:

  • The High Voltage (HV) infrastructure (HV rules apply)
  • The Wind Turbine, its plant with their associated (LV) infrastructure (WTSR apply)

The boundary between these two systems needs to be clearly defined – a typical example is shown below:

Diagram illustrating Wind Turbine Safety Rules

The WTSR have been operational since late 2005 and they are in use at over 100 wind farms in the UK and Ireland. There is wide-scale buy-in, including positive feedback from site technicians. In June 2009 they were revised to include minor improvements identified by operators based on experiences gained from their use.

The documentation is currently being updated to bring it in line with the recent rebranding of RenewableUK. To request a copy of the guidance in its current format (with BWEA text) please contact Chris Streatfeild at c.streatfeild@renewable-uk.com