OFFSHORE TRAINING
FEATURE SPONSOR
Working at height Training for the wind industry
The UK commercial wind energy generation industry has grown exponentially since the first wind farm of 10 Vestas turbines was commissioned in November 1991.
TRAINING FRAMEWORK Here in the UK, the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA), started work on developing a framework for a basic working at height training course to be widely adopted as the standard minimum training requirement within the UK. The 2 day course was developed with
These early wind farms were largely planned, erected, commissioned and maintained by either direct employees of the wind turbine manufacturer or continental based sub-contractors.
EARLY TRAINING
The content and quality of training that these people had received in relation to working at height was, at first, variable. There was at this time no recognised standard of content or delivery within the industry and accepted practices differed between countries and manufactures.
To meet the increasing demand for their turbines and the subsequent requirement for skilled and trained people, some of the larger manufactures set up in-house training centres to primarily teach the technical skills required by the ever growing number of technicians, engineers and managers. Some of these training centres introduced safe access and evacuation training into their portfolios.
External training providers with experience in delivering working at height and rescue training into the well established telecoms and oil & gas industries recognised the potential growth in the wind energy section. They quickly diversified to provide dedicated wind turbine access and evacuation training.
input from manufactures, operators and training companies to meet the basic requirements of all persons working at height in the wind industry.
The BWEA working at heights, guidelines and standards document was launched in draft in 2006. The BWEA formed a partnership with OPITO to audit and approve training providers to deliver its training program. In 2010, the now Renewable UK took the development of the training in-house, leading to establishment of a certification partnership with SGS in 2012.
COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS To meet the compliance requirements of global operations some companies developed their own training facilities and programs. One example of this is the Siemens training department who have developed an extensive portfolio of courses which it delivers through its training global facilities and accredited training partners. The working at height training delivered at these facilities and its outsource partners is standardised for its worldwide operations and is tailored to the Siemens wind turbine fleet, their approved working practices and the equipment used by its workforce.
GLOBAL WIND ORGANISATION (GWO) The quest by many of the major manufactures and operators for a global standard for training within the wind industry led to the forming of the GWO in 2012 and the subsequent development of the Basic Safety Training portfolio of courses. Which alongside a 2 day working at height training module, also included modules covering; Fire Awareness, First Aid, Manual Handling and Sea Survival for offshore operations.
MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE INDUSTRY
It must be appreciated that the basic 2 day working at height and rescue training, developed and accredited by either of these organisations, can only deliver the basic training requirements for wind turbine access, rescue and evacuation. All the fore mentioned training courses place limits on areas of access and procedures. This training is usually undertaken at purpose built training facilities on wind turbine simulators.
TRAINING AND COMPETENCE It is important to establish the difference between Training and Competence.
Training a person does not necessarily make that person ‘competent’. It is however one of the key criteria to attain competency along with knowledge, skill and experience.
For one of our major clients, we worked with them to develop a 3 day initial training course for their people employed in wind energy. The first two days follow the standard basic working at height syllabus that is delivered at a purpose build training facility.
The third day is delivered at one of their operational wind farms, where delegates are taken through the site induction process and the isolation and control procedures before being assessed accessing the turbine and undertaking rescue practices from the ladder and within the nacelle.
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www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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