30.01.2012

Wind Safety seminar

The European crane and heavy haulage association ESTA, is organising a ‘summit’ to discuss safety issues with wind turbine installation.

The meeting will be held on March 14th in Hamburg and will include a number of speakers from the industry. The move follows a number of high profile accidents and near misses that have occurred while assembling wind turbines.

The circular from the association puts it more directly: “As you all know the number of accidents related to wind turbine and transport installation has ‘sky rocketed’ with 2011 at an all-time high! Unfortunately also the number of fatalities related to this business is way too high. The aim of the summit is to bring together all stakeholders from the industry, discussing, openly what to do to achieve the goal ‘zero harm’ in wind turbine installation and transportation.”

The association says that this is a non- profit seminar – but it will still cost you €250 plus VAT – so €290 per person.

The speakers include:

- ESTA cranes section president - Sander Splinter with ‘Wind, a turbulent business’,

- ESTA secretary -Søren Jansen on ‘Safety Issues in Wind Turbine Installation and Transportation as experienced by Crane Rental Companies and Hauliers’

- Per Krogsgaard of BTM Consults on ‘Forecasting the wind industry’

- Paul Eijro Okpurughre of Siemens Windpower with ‘Zero harm during project execution’

- Liebherr’s Hans Dieter Willim on ‘Wind influences on mobile cranes when lifting rotors with large sailing areas’

- Finn Thyrring of Codan Insurance with ‘Insurance matters in the mobile crane rental industry’

- Klaus Meissner of Terex Demag and FEM on ‘Aspects of safe use, transportation and assembly of mobile crane in wind turbine installation’.

- Han Rekers of Nooteboom Special Products and ‘More cooperation between all parties in the development of transport equipment will dramatically improve safety during transport’

The seminar will then wind up with an open forum discussion, followed by drinks and dinner for those staying over.
Go to the events section on Vertikal.net - www.vertikal.net/en/events/ -for a direct link to the ESTA web site and registration.

Vertikal Comment

This seminar is much needed and will hopefully make a difference in what has become one of the most dangerous areas of the lifting industry. The shame though is that there are not more speakers from the wind turbine and crane rental industry itself. It is excellent to see someone from Siemens wind power, most of the others while including some excellent and highly knowledgeable people, are from suppliers rather than those at the hard end of the business.

Hopefully the event will be well attended by wind power companies and contractors and that they openly participate in the forum at the end. If so this could by far and away be the most important part of the meeting.

Finally is also a shame that it is costing so much – it is hard to understand how a non-profit meeting can cost €250 a head I speak with experience of organising safety meetings at German airports.

This meeting ought to seek to attract as many participants as possible from all levels of the industry. If you add travel costs and a night in a hotel to the €290 it becomes a significant investment for many companies that is likely to deter them from sending as many delegates as they might or even attending at all and that would be a missed opportunity.