As wind energy operations grow worldwide, new operations tend to be in ever more challenging environments where safety is a key issue.

UK wind farms – both onshore and offshore – generated nearly a quarter of the country’s electricity in 2022 (24.6%, 80.2 TWh), up from 21% (64.7 TWh) the previous year and an all-time annual high, according to data released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in March 2023.

In 2022, onshore wind generated a record 10.8% of electricity (35.1 TWh), while offshore wind provided a record 13.8% of power (45.0 TWh), up from 11.5% (35.5 TWh) the previous year, according to UK government energy trends.

Globally, the UK continues to be at the forefront of offshore wind. Figures from RenewableUK indicate that 3.51 GW of new offshore wind energy was added in the UK in 2022 – enough to power more than 3.4 million homes. The Crown Estate reported that the total UK operating capacity increased from 11.3 GW in 2021 to 13.7 GW in 2022, while global capacity rose from 48 GW to 57 GW in the same period.

In 2022, a total of 10 onshore projects were installed in the UK – six in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, one in Wales and one in England – enough to power 209,000 homes, according to RenewableUK.

SafetyOn and G+  
SafetyOn and the Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation (G+) recently published their 2022 annual data reports.

Both organisations play a pivotal role in the safe deployment and operation of UK onshore and global offshore wind generation respectively. These organisations help ensure that renewable wind energy continues to be produced across the UK and globally in a safe manner.

In 2022, the organisations reported an increase in the numbers of hours worked compared with the previous year. SafetyOn reported a 3% increase in the number of hours worked compared to the previous year, whilst G+ reported a 38% increase on worked hours compared to 2021.  

Despite the increase in worked hours, there was a decrease in the number of lost time incidents reported in both sectors. These positive figures are testament to the hard work of the two organisations and their members. However, both also highlight where the industry still needs to improve the safety performance of the wind industry.

Despite the increase in worked hours, there was a decrease in the number of lost time incidents reported in both sectors.

UK onshore – SafetyOn  
In 2022, a record 7.2 million worked hours were reported with a total of 523 incidents. This is a decrease of reported incidents in comparison to previous years, despite an increase in the number of worked hours compared with previous years. The total recordable incident rate (TRIR), measuring the number of incidents (fatalities + lost work day incidents + restricted work day incidents + medical treatment incidents) per 100,000 hours worked fell from 0.65 in 2021 to 0.44 in 2022.

Similarly, the lost time incident frequency (LTIF), measuring the frequency of incidents (fatalities + lost work day incidents) per 100,000 hours worked decreased from 0.37 in 2021 to 0.23 in 2022.

Despite an overall decrease in incidents against an increase in worked hours, in 2022, tragically, a fatal incident occurred on a wind farm construction site.

The incident data report provides an overview of health and safety incidents within the UK onshore wind industry.  The report analyses and presents quarterly data submitted by members throughout 2022 and highlights key risk areas that inform SafetyOn’s future work programme.

Key figures from the 2022 Incident Data report include 523 reported incidents, distributed in the following areas: 

• 454 incidents occurred on operational sites
• 49 incidents occurred on construction sites
• 15 incidents occurred on development sites

The incidents include:  

• 1 fatality 
• 16 total lost work day incidents  
• 9 incidents resulting in emergency response and medical evacuation 
• 117 caused direct injury to a person

The top three work processes where incidents occurred are:

• 89 incidents during routine maintenance
• 58 incidents during access/egress
• 49 incidents involving vehicle movement onsite

In 2022, there was a decrease of 2% in incidents during working with electrical systems compared with 2021. Whilst there was a modest fall in incidents, the result has meant that for the first time since the onset of SafetyOn data collection, working with electrical systems is not included within the top three work processes where incidents occurred.

A total of 113 incidents were reported as ‘high potential’, an increase of 6.4% compared with the previous year; 14 of these were categorised under lifting operations. High potential incidents are incidents or near misses that had the potential to cause a fatality/life changing injury.

SafetyOn is aware of the risk in this area and is developing industry good practice guidance on coordinating crane lifting activities at site. Furthermore, in 2023 SafetyOn instigated a Safe by Design (SbD) project, which will examine the design of chain hoists and ancillary equipment, lift plans, permits and controls, and training and competency across industry.

Established in 2019, SafetyOn brings together 82 member organisations and other industry stakeholders to tackle health and safety issues in the onshore wind industry through four main areas: incident data reporting, good practice guidelines, safe by design and learning from shared incidents.

SafetyOn has published 12 health and safety guidance documents, including its first video campaign focused on mitigating hand injuries, and a joint industry good practice guideline in collaboration with G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation on contractor engagement and behavioural safety in onshore civils.

SafetyOn seeks to continue to collaborate and share knowledge and good practice with associated sectors, in the UK and beyond. The organisation also plays a leading role in the Industry Collaboration Committee, which brings together key industry stakeholders for the shared interest of health and safety in the global wind energy industry.

Global offshore – G+   
In 2022, G+ data reported a record number of global working hours – over 44 million, an increase of 38% on the previous year. The TRIR, measuring the number of injuries per million hours worked, fell from 3.28 in 2021 to 2.82 in 2022. Similarly, the LTIF, measuring the frequency of injuries resulting in lost work time, decreased from 1.55 in 2021 to 1.03 in 2022.

There was a 69% decrease in the number of emergency response and medical evacuation incidents compared with the previous year – from 62 in 2021 to 19 in 2022. Given the increase in hours reported this is a significant improvement.

While this progress is welcome, the report also highlights that more must still be done. In 2022, the number of ‘high potential’ incidents increased by 10% compared to the previous year. There was also an increase in the number of restricted work day injuries in 2022 – with 36 reported cases. Furthermore, the number of medical treatment injuries increased by 10 cases – all highlighting the need for constant vigilance and continuous improvement.

Key figures from the 2022 Incident Data report include 868 reported incidents and injuries, distributed in the following areas:

• 325 incidents occurred on a vessel
• 298 incidents occurred in a turbine
• 185 incidents occurred onshore

The incidents include:

• 0 fatalities 
• 46 total lost work day injuries
• 19 incidents resulting in emergency response and medical evacuation 
• 36 restricted workday injuries 
• 44 medical treatment injuries

The top three work process incidents are:

• 119 incidents during lifting operations
• 67 incidents during manual handling 
• 58 incidents during access/egress

Now in its 10th year and, as with SafetyOn, working in partnership with the Energy Institute, G+ brings together the key players across the international offshore wind industry to drive the highest safety standards through incident data reporting, good practice guidance, learning from incidents, and safe by design workshops.

With expanding operations in the Asia-Pacific and the Americas region, G+ continues to grow in membership, reaching many new participants in the offshore wind industry and ensuring lessons are leaned and knowledge and experience is shared. The G+ organisation continues to utilise the lessons learned from high potential incidents and has been sharing these learnings with the global energy industry via Toolbox to facilitate learning from incidents and help improve safety.

Working safely  
The data presented in each report underpins each organisation’s work programme and provides an understanding on the health and safety issues facing the wind industry. As both offshore and onshore wind capacity increases in the UK and globally, so too will the workforce, along with the need to manage health and safety during all stages of the project lifecycle. The goal is to ensure that those employed in the wind industry plan safely, work safely and go home safely.

This can be achieved by collaboration across all parts of the industry to ensure that health and safety is at the heart of everything we do – be that surveying a prospective new development, through to decommissioning and repowering of assets. The express aim is to demonstrate leadership, care and responsibility by what we do, as much as what we say. In addition to the data, a key mechanism to achieve this is to facilitate collaboration across all parties, industry, supply chain, regulators, academia and industry associations.