NEWS
GWYNT Y MOR SHOWS
EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF HOW
TO BUILD OFFSHORE SAFELY
Lessons from the London Olympics, a focus on
occupational health and full engagement with
contractors helped RWE to build its Gwynt y
Mor project with an exemplary safety record.
The Institution of Occupational Safety and
Health’s Marcus Boocock reports on a site visit.
B
uilding an offshore wind farm by its very nature involves a host
of potential risks. During construction of the 576MW Gwynt y
Mor offshore wind farm in North Wales, more than one million
tonnes of equipment had to be lifted, the weather was often bad and
more than 100 different contracting companies were involved in the
project.
Ensuring the safety of all those involved was an important
consideration for developer RWE Innogy. The utility worked closely
with Trevor Johnson, the offshore specialist from the UK Health and
Safety Executive’s renewable energies team, right from the start.
With all 160 turbines now constructed at Gwynt y Mor, and most
of them operational, RWE can look back proudly on an excellent
health and safety record, with no fatalities or life-changing injuries despite the potential dangers of the remote site. The 3.6MW turbines
are more than 13 kilometres off the coast, in Liverpool Bay, in water
depths of 12-28 metres, and the site covers a vast area of 80 square
kilometres.
The project has amassed more than nine million man hours,
including 4.5 million hours offshore without a lost-time incident.
During the height of the construction period, 64 vessels were out in
the field at one time - more than in many busy shipping lanes.
Offshore, the project’s dedicated emergency response teams
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HSE INTERNATIONAL
answered 36 incidents that required assessment from a medical
specialist. The majority of the incidents were health-related and not a
result of work activities.
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) was
invited to inspect the site. Simon Hatson, a committee member
of the IOSH’s offshore group with a particular experience of wind
farms, and Lawrence Bamber, chair of the organisation’s North Wales
branch, visited RWE’s facilities at the Port of Mostyn in North Wales,
and the wind farm itself.
The IOSH members were impressed to hear how the potential
dangers have been overcome. “This site has a fantastic health
and safety record, which is great to hear. This should be used as a
benchmark for other projects in the future,” said Hatson. “They have
had some very difficult challenges, which they have had to deal with.
These include heavy lifts, diving operations, working in restricted
spaces and working in an offshore environment where the usual
onshore facilities aren’t always available.”
Lessons from Olympics
Planning for the health and safety aspect of the operation started
well before offshore construction began. What quickly became
apparent to RWE was that the project team had to pay at least as much
attention to the health aspect as to safety.
In 2011, a team from the wind project visited the London Olympics
facilities, ahead of the 2012 Games, to see how staff there were kept
safe and healthy. The Olympic park had been commended for the way
this was being achieved. Some of the Olympic construction team then
visited Gwynt y Mor to make suggestions, which included a three-point