At great heights, maintenance technicians around the world ensure that wind turbines reliably deliver energy to private households and industry. Employees cannot do without fall protection. In most cases, a rescue device stored on a wind energy plant is also indispensable for their safety. This is the only way they can leave their workplace quickly in an emergency.
It is now possible to extend the service life of such rescue devices from ten years up to 20 years. SKYLOTEC, a German manufacturer of fall protection systems, offers a cost-effective and sustainable solution.
When maintenance or repair work has to be carried out on wind turbines in Europe, workers are required to wear fall protection. This is essential, in order to protect oneself from the risk of a fatal fall from a height, when climbing onto wind energy plants, when working inside or outside the nacelle.
When it comes to occupational safety, however, it is not only the employees who are called upon. Rather, the manufacturers, owners or operators of wind energy plants, wind farms or their service companies are responsible for the safety of their employees. This also applies to emergencies – such as when a person has to leave the turbine environment quickly at heights up to 200 meters and bring himself and other colleagues to safety.
Rescue and abseiling devices are often used for the self-evacuation and rescue of injured persons. The models equipped with a centrifugal brake have proven their worth. This allows for safe abseiling at a constant speed. In wind energy, SKYLOTEC’s ‘Milan Hub’ has established itself in recent years as the standard device for the rescue of accident victims or the rapid evacuation of several people.
This fall protection manufacturer, who develops the products in Germany, is the market leader in the field of centrifugal force-controlled rescue devices. Using the ‘Milan Hub’, two employees can descend simultaneously from great heights inside or outside the tower. SKYLOTEC’s ‘Milan Hub’ can be stored in the so-called ‘Seal Pac’ – a sealed aluminum box containing the vacuumed rescue device – directly in the turbine environment and can be used for ten years if tested regularly.
