Hazards of Wind Farms

As a way of providing context to the study, Chapter 2 gives a brief overview of wind turbines and wind farms and presents a short outline of the wind farm development process. It compares tasks common to land-based and offshore development and indicates those that are unique to offshore. The chapter also examines general similarities and differences between offshore oil and gas and offshore wind energy hazards. In addressing Task I (see Box 1-2) of the committee s charge, this chapter briefly describes the hazards involved with the phases of wind farm development and provides background for the more in-depth discussion of offshore hazards in Chapter 4. In addition. Chapter 2 provides an introductory comparison of the relative risk of hazards associated with offshore oil and gas operations that are relevant to offshore wind farms and that will be discussed further in Chapter 4. 

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Although the federal government has regulated the production of offshore oil and gas for decades, it has no experience with offshore wind farms. Land-based and offshore wind development share many of the same tasks and hazards in fact, once a technician is inside a wind turbine, most tasks are exactly the same. However, the challenge of working on and from vessels and in and over the water with massive offshore wind turbine equipment introduces additional hazards and different risks (see Chapters 2 and 4). The oil and gas and wind industries share most of these offshore hazards, but overall, the risk associated with oil and gas hazards is greater than that associated with offshore wind. In this context, workplace risk is viewed as the product of the probability and the consequence of a hazardous event. The oil and gas industry works with a more volatile product, so the risk of explosion or fire on offshore platforms is greater than on offshore wind turbines. 

To fulfill its charge, the committee met five times over a 1 -year period and was briefed by stakeholders. To address its first task, the committee reviewed the offshore wind farm environment and identified hazards unique to offshore wind farms. Next, the committee compared hazards of offshore wind farms with those of the offshore oil and gas industry. For its second task, the committee examined the jurisdictional authority of relevant federal agencies and the regulatory approaches offered by each and determined whether gaps or overlaps of jurisdiction exist. For its third task, the committee evaluated the current regulatory framework and provided options for enhancing regulations for worker health and safety on wind farms on the OCS. 

Current regulations require wind farm operators to decommission or remove all facilities and wind farm components at some point in the future.The committee is unaware of any offshore wind projects that have been decommissioned anywhere in the world, but the process is understood to be the reverse of the installation process and could be more hazardous and difficult than the installation phase. This process would include the removal of all underwater cables, wind turbines, towers, ESP, transition pieces, and foundations and would require equipment and vessels similar to those used during installation. 

Hazards to worker health and safety related to wind farm development can occur during the major phases of the project installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. Many common hazards of these phases are summarized in Box 2-1. 

Hazards of Offshore Oil and Gas Facilities Relevant to Offshore Wind Farms... 

Many offshore oil and gas hazards and their associated risks are similar to those of offshore wind farms. Table 2-1 outlines some specific hazards with an indication of whether the overall risk from those hazards to an offshore wind farm worker is similar to, higher than, or lower... 

Note Table 2-1 is not intended to be a direct comparison between the two industries, but only an approximation of relative risk. The hazards and risks between offshore wind and offshore oil and gas are not always directly comparable. After installation, offshore wind farms are more like oil and gas production platforms and less like oil and gas drilling rigs. 

Certain hazards—chemical exposure, fire, and explosion—associated with the volatile products involved in offshore oil and gas work are less likely with offshore wind. And, because the number of people on a wind turbine at any one time is much smaller than on a drilling platform, the likelihood of a worker being exposed to these hazards is smaller. Common hazards for the oil and gas industry may include falls (particularly down stairs) injuries from cranes and heavy lifts injuries from being struck by objects and musculoskeletal injuries from lifting, which may occur less frequently on wind turbines but have similar consequences. Other typical worker injuries including slips and trips and exposure to the weather elements may occur with a similar frequency, but the overall risk of a catastrophic event on an oil and gas platform is higher than what can be expected on a wind farm. For wind farms, the likelihood of a catastrophic event is lower with respect to personnel and environmental... 

OSHA or state OSHA Jurisdiction and regulations for specific hazards of offshore wind farms in state waters and the Great Lakes (and on the OCS— unless another agency exercises statutory authority). No jurisdiction BOEM intends to exercise statutory authority. 

OSHA and state OSHA programs do not have specific offshore wind farm regulations. Instead, they would apply current regulations, depending on the nature of the work performed and the hazards presented. For offshore wind farms located in U.S. navigable waters, including state territorial seas and U.S. inland waters, OSHA would most likely apply rules from its construction standards (29 CFR 1926), general industry standards (29 CFR 1910), and maritime standards (29 CFR 1915,1917, and 1918). 

Chapter 4 discusses hazards associated with offshore wind farms and how regulations and standards are used to address those hazards. Chapter 5 discusses published management systems in more detail and provides examples of important SMS elements that BOEM could reference for enhancing its SMS. Chapter 6 presents the committee s key findings... 

As discussed in Chapter 3, land-based wind farms and wind farms within state territorial waters fall under the regulatory authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or OSHA-approved state programs. OSHA regulations and standards address many of the tasks and hazards associated with wind farm development, and industry can draw on them in developing the safety management system (SMS) required by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management... 

This chapter begins with a short list of hazards, many of which are shared by land-based and offshore wind farms. The chapter then identifies relevant federal regulations and industry standards that could apply to each hazard. The second section discusses hazards that the committee judges to be unique to offshore wind development and describes current regulations, standards, and industry best practices that offer controls for reducing risk. 

In the list above, the committee developed what it judges to be among the more expected, or typical, hazards of a wind farm project life cycle. Many of these hazards— such as confined space entry, crane and lifting operations, electrical injury, working at heights, fire protection, human factors safety issues, and slips and trips—are common to land-based wind farms and are addressed by federal regulations and industry consensus standards, examples of which are included in Table 4-1. The... 

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