Report highlights injuries in offshore wind industry

London – A group of nine international renewable-energy developers known as the G9 Offshore Wind Health and Safety Association has released its inaugural incident data report.

The offshore wind industry has expanded in recent years in conjunction with increased demand for low carbon electricity generation, according to G9. Working offshore poses a number of safety challenges, so G9 partnered with the Energy Institute to track incidents, identify trends and implement changes to help better protect employees.

The report, which G9 said it would issue on an annual basis, highlights 616 incidents that resulted in zero fatalities, 30 “medical treatment” injuries and 66 lost work days in 2013. Almost all of the incidents occurred on vessels (281), in the turbine region (178) or onshore (124). Most of the incidents occurred during lifting operations (165), marine operations (131) and when working at height (45).

“The publication of this report is pivotal and the first step to laying a foundation in which we can begin to measure, manage and continuously improve our health and safety performance more effectively,” Benj Sykes, chairman of the G9 board of directors, said in a press release.