FEATURE SPONSOR
OFFSHORE SUPPORT SERVICES
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK THE ERT CREW
name:
Phil Keating comPany:
Hughes Sub Surface Engineering
Position: Project Manager/Crew Team Leader
PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION
It was the day after the night before - severe storms had been battering the south of England, and in the aftermath I caught up with Phil Keating, Crew Team Leader of Hughes Subsurface Engineering’s Emergency Response Team (ERT).
AFTERMATH
In the rough seas following the storm, Phil and his crew were ‘weathered out’. They wait patiently for an improvement in conditions before making the two hour journey offshore to the Gwynt Y Mor windfarm; these periods of downtime provide opportune moments to undertake thorough equipment checks and run through medical training exercises and drills.
Each member of the team has a background in either military, fire service or coastguard experience, and each has high level medical qualifications. They have undertaken intensive training, from rope rescue and confined space training to swift water rescue and co-ordination of helicopter evacuation, and should the occasion arise the team is prepared for any eventuality.
24 HOUR COVER The company provides 24 hour cover for the 160 turbines and working vessels, and guarantee that at any given time an ERT crew will be no more than 4 miles from the windfarm. Personnel can be safe in the knowledge that, should an emergency arise, an emergency medical crew can be on the scene in moments (there is roughly 1 team for every 60 personnel at full capacity).
The teams undertake a variety of duties in addition to their medical rescue. Depending on the log and scope of work for each shift, these range from refuelling generators and clearing guano to changing bulbs for the navigation aids. Each of these tasks is essential to ensure the 160 turbines avoid downtime and are continually operational.
REFUELLING Assets often require refuelling - not the easiest of tasks considering the environment! Once reaching the turbine, the team climbs 80 ft to the top of the Transition Piece, ropes the fuel hose to the structure up to the platform, and refuels the generator; on a good day (weather-permitting) up to 1200 litres of fuel can be delivered to each turbine, with a maximum of 10 turbines per day.
LESS GLAMOROUS One of the less glamorous duties HSSE perform is the cleaning of guano from the nacelles and structures, an essential (if overlooked)
A TYPICAL DAY… IF THERE IS SUCH A THING!
To ensures continual cover, shift patterns are: • 0600 hours - 1800 hours • 0900 hours - 2100 hours • 1200 hours - 2400 hours
At the start of the shift each team has a handover, consults the logbook, checks work permits and completes another series of exhaustive and essential checks on equipment.
THE CREW Each crew comprises a team leader, 2 medical technicians, the transfer vessel skipper and a deck hand. Health & safety of personnel is of the utmost importance, and whilst offshore all personnel are tracked via a database maintained by the Marine Controller, in addition to the AIS GPS system.
task. The biggest culprits of spreading guano are seagulls and cormorants; their deposits are extremely destructive and corrosive to the turbines, and high pressure hoses and full mask and protective clothing are required during the cleansing of the area. It is often necessary to undertake guano cleaning prior to installation of turbines too.
This is just a brief snap shot of the duties the ERT perform; when speaking to Phil his sense of humour, modesty and dedication are abundant. I imagine these to be common traits throughout his crew - all necessary to manage their high risk responsibilities and take everything in their stride
Fliss Chaffer Interviewer Wind Energy network
Click to view more info = Click to view video
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
83
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116