New data published today by the G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation, based at the Energy Institute, outlines a mixed picture in the 2023 Incident Data report as the industry’s operations grow and mature.
Members of G+ – comprising the biggest offshore wind operators and wind turbine OEMs globally – reported 1679 incidents in 2023, a 94% increase from 2022.
With the key safety metrics of Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) and Lost Time Injury Frequency (LTIF) remaining broadly steady compared to previous years, the increase was partly driven by the 17.3 million additional operational hours worked by G+ members in 2023, bringing the total to 661.9 million.
Given the increase in reported incidents, the importance of joint action to improve health and safety performance cannot be understated. To support this G+ members are engaging operational personnel through initiatives such as the G+ Technician Innovation Challenge, to mitigate hazards on sites.
Promisingly, despite the increase in the number of incidents overall, the percentage of high potential incidents more than halved, falling to 11% of total incidents in 2023. But, tragically a fatality occurred on an onshore turbine assembly this year.
Collaboration
Commenting on the report, G+ chair, and head of Health and Safety at SSE Renewables David Griffiths said: “2024 is all about collaboration. Ensuring our industry continues to build upon the progress made over the past decade requires a sector-wide effort.
“While a headline increase in total recorded incidents is cause for concern, G+ has redoubled its efforts to engage frontline workers and mitigate hazards on site, and I’m pleased to see a genuine step change in the reporting culture across several key metrics.”
Energy Institute chief executive Dr Nick Wayth CEng FEI added: “The Incident Data report shows we cannot be complacent when it comes to mitigating health and safety risks at every stage of project development.
“As the offshore wind industry continues to ramp up and play an increasing role in our energy mix, the work of G+ has never been so crucial.”
The G+ work programme is led and informed by industry incident data. While lifting operations continue to be the main work process with potential for incidents, vessel operations (including jack-ups and barges) and routine maintenance have become new areas of focus as major projects get underway.
Key figures from the 2023 Incident Data report are:
- 1679 incidents and injuries were recorded, 1049 on construction sites, 560 on operation sites and 67 on development sites. There was one fatality.
- There were 65 lost work day injuries, 70 medical treatment injuries, 33 restricted work day injuries, and 31 injuries requiring emergency response and medical evacuation.
The top three work processes for incidents are: 207 during lifting operations, 169 during vessel operations and 109 during routine maintenance.
The year ahead will be about delivering on the work streams that the G+ has underway, such as a lifting framework, manual handling videos and transfer methods, whilst also ensuring that published work, such as the onshore civils and small service vessel good practices, are being fully embedded on sites.
