SKILLS GAP - OTHER INDUSTRIES
SPECIALIST TRAINING COMBATS HOSTILE NORTH SEA ENVIRONMENT
WHEN YOU’RE MILES OFFSHORE IN THE HOSTILE NORTH SEA YOU CAN’T DIAL 999 IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG. STAFF FROM ONE SUBSEA CABLE INSTALLATION COMPANY WILL BE READY FOR ANYTHING, THANKS TO SPECIALIST TRAINING.
LEADING GLOBAL PROVIDER Global Marine Systems Energy Ltd is one of the world’s leading providers of submarine cable installation services delivering power cabling solutions from landfall to landfall or from landfall to offshore structures, such as windfarms, for the power and offshore renewable energy markets.
The company has successfully installed some of the world’s leading offshore windfarm projects from the turbine through to the landfall. When the company won a recent contract to deliver the cable infrastructure for a planned German wind farm in the North Sea it needed to ensure its employees were adequately prepared should the worst happen.
TAILORED TRAINING PLAN Working in one of the world’s harshest and most dangerous environments means personnel need to be self- sufficient, with watertight rescue and emergency procedures in place should things go wrong. Global Marine Energy approached Maersk Training in Newcastle to help develop an advanced rescue and emergency plan tailored to the unique conditions it was about to experience and to train its 14-strong team to be completely self-reliant.
CREATING REALISTIC CONDITIONS To ensure the training took place under realistic conditions, Maersk Training used cable tanks on a ship in the German port of Nordenham to simulate the confined spaces and heights the Global Marine Energy team would experience offshore. Groups of four were then taken through step-by-step procedures including use
of a cervical collar and spinal board and being lifted to safety in these difficult conditions.
LIVE TRIAL
In a live trial following the training, the team managed to rescue a casualty in just 20 minutes - timings on a par with a professional rescue team. The rescue and emergency procedures were also signed off by the client ensuring that Global Marine Energy could progress its work on schedule.
Andy Dorr, Project HSE Adviser at Global Marine Energy, said: “Due to the nature of our work we are first on any site and have no access to any existing facilities. As you can imagine when you’re offshore in the harsh and hostile conditions of the North Sea you are far from any emergency services and need to be able to deal with any emergency situation yourself. Any one of us needs to be completely confident they could rescue a colleague in the unlikely event that anything bad should happen.
“As well as training our team in the very highest climbing and rescue standards for an offshore environment, Maersk Training helped us to refine our emergency rescue procedures to the highest possible standards. This gave our client confidence that we could deliver what they needed and we were able to get on with the job.
“Maersk Training’s excellent and responsive approach has been invaluable in helping us to progress this project quickly and to build the trust of our important new client.”
GLOBAL WIND ORGANISATION (GWO) APPROVAL
Maersk Training in Newcastle, which specialises in wind, renewable and offshore training, was the first centre in the UK to offer courses approved by the GWO and is also approved by industry bodies such as RenewableUK and OPITO.
The GWO programme is a globally recognised standard and is often the first step for those wanting a worldwide career in wind power - currently only a few centres globally have GWO approval.
CONSIDERATIONS
Jeremy Weiss, rescue training specialist and instructor at Maersk Training, who devised and delivered the training for Global Marine Energy said: “When developing a training and rescue plan for an isolated and dangerous environment there are many considerations to look at including weather conditions, available equipment and communication limitations to name but a few.”
ROBUST RESCUE AND EMERGENCY PLAN
“Working in partnership with Global Marine Energy we created a robust rescue and emergency plan that covered every scenario. Global Marine Energy’s team was extremely motivated and enthusiastic and training them was an absolute pleasure.
“The global wind industry is experiencing unprecedented growth and there are many resulting skills shortages that need to be plugged. This means we need to be able to react quickly to any client’s needs, arranging bespoke training courses at short notice. We are more than geared up to do this and we are delighted that our work with Global Marine Energy has helped them to progress a very important contract for them.”
Maersk Training Newcastle
www.maersktraining.com
Global Marine Systems Energy
www.globalmarinesystemsenergy.com
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk 25
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