G+ kicks off several new workstreams for 2024, covering critical topics which prioritise health and safety within the growing offshore wind sector. This year, G+ looks forward to commencing the following workstreams - Welfare in the Offshore Wind Industry – Existing Practices and Future Opportunities; Severe Weather Preparedness; and Health and Safety Considerations for the Deployment, Maintenance and Recovery of Surveying Buoys.
Welfare in the offshore wind industry – existing practices and future opportunities
As wind farm sites grow and we try to ensure a diverse workforce, the focus has increased regarding technician welfare, specifically access to standard facilities. This workstream will explore the opportunities to improve provisions such as sanitation, washing, rest and mess facilities.
Utilising member data, the 2024 workstream will look to understand the existing provisions and the impact on personnel and operations, considering the accessibility of facilities throughout the different project phases, as well as opportunities for new and retrofit projects. Overall, this workstream will provide members a better understanding of considerations to make for their projects.
Severe Weather Preparedness
While the type of severe weather incidents varies worldwide, the frequency and intensity of occurrence provides a risk to the offshore wind industry and its workforce. The western North Atlantic Ocean is battered by hurricanes and Nor’easters, while APAC regions deal with typhoons, earthquakes and severe thunderstorms. It has been found that many European companies do not have extensive experience in preparing for these severe weather scenarios, while the likelihood of them occurring is only increasing, a consequence of the climate crisis. Among the challenges, a major difficulty faced by contractors with limited experience is recovering workers during adverse weather events. This suggests the need for standardised and coordinated responses, particularly when working in the same sea area as other developers and contractors.
This workstream aims to identify best practices for work performance when encountering severe weather conditions. While approaches are expected to vary depending on the specifics of a location or project, this workstream would provide a starting point for an industry good practice document to support site-specific approaches.
Health and safety considerations for the deployment, maintenance and recovery of surveying buoys
The use of surveying buoys within offshore wind developments is becoming increasingly common. As the duration of their deployment and the size of the buoys grows, from a health and safety perspective, succinct guidance should be available. Key areas of concern raised initially regarded the deployment, maintenance, sea-state/weather condition, and vessel selection issues.
The good practice guidance (GPG) resulting from this workstream will examine the above topics, including the different health and safety implications due to varying global site locations. It will provide a source of recommendations for stakeholders, including buoy providers and maintainers, to understand and source implementable advice into their own operations.