How often and how a wind farm is accessed has a big impact on the safety of those working offshore. In a presentation from Julian Hubbard, the Group HSE manager for RES Offshore, on the offshore wind health and safety industry, he explains that through a lifecycle approach to access and the service of offshore wind farms, health and safety risks can be reduced and the safety of engineers can be improved.
He explains that through the good design of wind farms and turbines, health and safety risks can be reduced. Using the lifecycle model, which is contained in the presentations, he explains exactly how to change the access to improve the safety of workers on wind turbines.
By reducing the need to access the wind turbine it can contribute towards reducing the risks associated with working offshore. Along with this, if companies do their best to improve access, it can provide a safer working environment. The access of a wind farm needs to become a major factor in the design and something that should not be overlooked describes Julian.
In the presentation he provides three ways to reduce offshore access needs: 1. Improved design of wind turbine and farms will reduce the need to complete routine servicing 2. Improving the reliability of wind turbines will lead to a reduction in unplanned visits 3. Better monitoring and analysis enable engineers to predict failures and combine service visits
RES Offshore presentation, which is available on Wind Energy Update, explains in depth how to implement the lifecycle model, remote operations and improve serviceability.
[mappress]
Press release, September 26, 2012; Image: Dalby Offshore