G9 report on UK offshore wind industry shows increase in worker injury rates

London – Safety performance has declined in the United Kingdom offshore wind sector, according to a recent report from the G9 Offshore Wind Health and Safety Association.

The United Kingdom sector’s Total Recordable Injury Rate increased 31 percent in 2015 from the previous year, according to the report. The Lost Time Injury Frequency rate rose 34 percent. Despite sharp increases in both rates, the sector did not record any worker fatalities among the 790 reported incidents in 2015. Those incidents included 398 hazards, 262 near hits, 55 first aid cases, 31 medical treatment injuries, 28 lost-workday incidents and 16 restricted-workday incidents.

The most common area for incidents to take place was onshore (303), followed by incidents that occurred in the turbine region (294) and on vessels (150). Thirty-nine percent of lost-workday incidents occurred during onshore activity, and 32 percent occurred in the turbine region.

“These reports provide the industry with a valuable insight into safety performance, including benchmarking figures so that performance can be assessed against other industrial sectors and against previous years,” Jonathan Cole, G9 chairman and managing director of offshore for ScottishPower Renewables, said in a press release. “Although the TRIR and LTIF do not show the whole story, it is important to understand the changes in these numbers and I will be working closely with my G9 colleagues and other industry stakeholders to ensure measures are put into place to instigate the necessary performance improvement.”