Quantifying the essential tasks of offshore wind technicians

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Ergonomics
• Wind Energy Engineering

Background:

• Offshore wind technicians (WTs) face significant and varied physical demands.
• Assessing WTs' physical capabilities is crucial for job suitability and safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and quantify the minimum physical demands of essential tasks performed by offshore wind technicians.
• To establish a global physical employment standard for the offshore wind industry.

Main Methods:

• A multi-modal observational approach was used, involving 10 wind farm organizations across five countries.
• Data collection included semi-structured interviews, focus groups, surveys, direct observations, objective measurements, video analysis, and review of standard operating procedures.
• Service campaigns were deconstructed into component tasks and analyzed for technical specifications and best practices.

Main Results:

• Essential tasks for offshore wind technicians were categorized into two main groups: infrequent (casualty evacuation, prolonged ladder climbing) and frequent (short ladder climbs, manual handling, working in restricted spaces).

Conclusions:

• The identified tasks and their physical demands provide a foundation for developing a minimum performance standard for offshore wind technicians.
• These findings are part of a larger work program to establish a physical employment standard for the global offshore wind sector.