Wind turbine manufacturers and subcontractors stand shoulder to shoulder to establish their own safety culture. Leading enterprises will be using video und printed information material to reinforce and disseminate their common position on safety issues across the industry in 2015.
Frankfurt Main, 17 December 2015: Wind Industry Safety Culture is an initiative of the wind turbine manufacturers GE, Siemens, Nordex, Senvion, Vestas, AREVA and their subcontractors. Under the auspices of VDMA Power Systems the initiative aims to implement an industry-wide safety culture in 2015. “We have to concentrate more on the safety of the employees – and that refers to the many people employed by our subcontractors as well as our own people”, says Lars Bondo Krogsgaard, chair of the wind turbine steering committee at VDMA Power Systems and member of the board at Nordex in a film by the Wind Industry Safety Culture Initiative.
In 2014 the manufacturers started a dialogue with subcontractors at the construction sites and in the maintenance services sector. Together they developed what are known as the Seven Safety Principles and the first best practice guidelines for safe driving, working at height and using personal protective equipment. The objective for 2015 is now to disseminate this common safety culture at the building sites and in the maintenance services sector. To this end, VDMA Power Systems is providing free video material and information literature on its website. “The material will in future be disseminated during safety instructions, safety trainings and management seminars”, explains Lars Bondo Krogsgaard. “Our joint objective is to further minimise the number of accidents, and this means embracing the safety culture. The safety issue is not just a question of statistics; every report of each individual incident is about a person. It is our duty to look after our people properly”, he continues, and promises: “A safety culture is not something you can just apply across the industry in one fell swoop, it is something that has to be consistently worked at. Nevertheless, we will be judged on whether we have been able to apply the seven safety principles and the best practice guidelines, and reduce dangerous behaviour when driving, working at height and using personal protective equipment, by the end of 2015.”
In the coming year, the VDMA working group on Wind Industry Safety Culture will intensify the dialogue between manufacturers and subcontractors so that they can work together in developing more best practice guidelines for safer handling of electricity and civil works. The initiative is aligned with national wind energy associations, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) for safety trainings.
Link to Safety Culture Video: http://wind.vdma.org/documents/106078/2159140/Video%20Wind%20Industry%20Safety%20Culture%20Conference/972ceb14-ff86-4d7c-a47a-f7eb3327aa00
Link to Safety Culture Information Material: http://wind.vdma.org/article/-/articleview/5546320
