With the increase in renewable energy development in the UK comes the requirement to ensure that
appropriate action, management and teamwork in the area of health & safety is carried out
accordingly, explains recruitment consultancy Allen & York
With the increase in renewable energy development in the UK comes the requirement to ensure that
appropriate action, management and teamwork in the area of health & safety is carried out
accordingly, explains recruitment consultancy Allen & York
RenewableUK has done a great job
of raising the profile of health
and safety within the UK Wind
industry. Working in partnership with
lead organisations and key stakeholders,
including the HSE and Crown Estate,
they actively communicate on health
and safety matters, publish best practice
guidance, recommend training and hold
an annual Health and Safety Renewables
conference, which is an indication of the
importance of health and safety within
renewable energy and the growing
number of job opportunities available in
this sector.
RenewableUK will shortly be issuing a
Safety Bulletin which looks at Winter
Working issues in light of the impending
Renewables Obligation (RO) banding
changes. This is as a result of an expected
increase in the number of renewable
energy projects aiming to come online
before 1st April 2013. The Government
introduced RO in 2002 to provide
incentives for the deployment of largescale
renewable electricity in the UK. The
RO requires licensed UK electricity
suppliers to source a specified proportion
of the electricity they provide to customers
from eligible renewable sources.
The development of RISE - the
industry's new health and safety incident
reporting and benchmarking initiative by
RenewableUK also demonstrates the
increased focused of health and safety
within renewable energy. RISE enables
professionals to log, review and analyse
incidents from activities within a secure
system. This can make it easier for
managers to compare health and safety
performance against industry peers and
the wider renewable energy industry on a
confidential and anonymous basis. By
sharing safety alerts and relevant health
and safety news through RISE,
professionals are working together to
support and enhance the reputation and
safety status of the renewable energy
industry.
Growing job opportunities Health and safety job roles that are
continually available within the renewable
energy sector, which combine health,
safety and environmental responsibilities,
are often safety engineering professionals,
health and safety advisors and managers,
and environmental, health and safety
managers. At Allen & York we have seen a
steady increase in these HSE positions
across corporate business, manufacturing,
construction and more recently,
renewable energy.
David Blake, energy group manager at
Allen & York, comments: "More
specifically, Allen & York are working
with one of the world's leading wind farm
developers who have an expanding
portfolio of projects at various stages of
development around the world. We are
assisting them in their recruit for HSE
professionals within offshore wind."
Offshore wind in particular has seen a
further recent boost in the UK, with the
DECC awarding £2.3 million in funding
to High Voltage Partial Discharge, JDR
Cable Systems and Principle Power. This
fund is part of the Offshore Wind
Component Technologies Development
and Demonstration scheme and according
to energy and climate change minister
Greg Barker: "This fund will give three
more companies the boost they need to
take their innovative designs to the next
level, helping cut costs in offshore wind
generation, and ultimately helping us
harness more power from turbines out at
sea." With the increase in offshore wind
farm developments in the UK, HSE
professionals with experience working in
renewable energy will become
increasingly in demand. The
responsibilities of the role will be to drive
continuous development and
implementation of the company's health
and safety management systems, monitor
performance and implement actions and
provide support and training to staff at
site level.
With the move towards Round 3
offshore wind developments, a heightened
level of new safety risk plays a part in the
construction phase in particular. Round 3
may seem a small step from Round 2, but
in terms of capex and opex it is a giant
leap. Existing offshore wind farms are
sited in near-shore, shallow waters of up
to 20 metres. To realise the North Sea's full
potential, however, Round 3 projects will
be located further out to sea - potentially
200 km from shore at depths of 50 metres
or more - which requires larger arrays,
bigger turbines, deeper foundations and
longer construction times. Having
qualified risk management professionals
in place at this stage is a must for
developers and contractors.
Recent worldwide investment in
renewable energy technologies, aimed at
meeting our demands for lower energy
consumption and reduced greenhouse
gases, bring with it new roles worldwide.
However, concerns could be raised
regarding insufficient attention being
given to safety risks in such jobs. For
example, some physical hazards that
workers face when installing solar panel
systems are similar to those in
construction, but are new to electricians
and plumbers installing PV panels on
roofs. These may include working at
heights, high temperatures and voltages
and confined spaces during construction
and maintenance.
