Why offshore wind leave
crews short of energy
Last month’s Offshore Wind Safety Forum united an emerging sector against fatigue,
reports KERRIE FOSTER of the National Workboat Association…
32 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
The National Workboat Association (NWA)
has hosted its second Offshore Wind
Safety Forum, bringing together
windfarm operators, operators of offshore energy support
vessels (OESVs) and key industry stakeholders to promote
safe practices in the maritime sector of the offshore wind
industry.
The forum, held at the Ergo Renewable Energy Centre
on the Humber, was supported by Nautilus and attended
by industrial organiser Gary Leech.
The event saw the official launch of the NWA’s ‘Under-standing
Fatigue’ poster (co-sponsored by Shipowners P&I
Club and the Maritime & Coastguard Agency), part of a
broader campaign which aims to highlight the risks of
fatigue in the maritime industry.
More effective management of working hours for vessel
masters and crews has been an important issue for
workboat operators and marine coordinators for some
time now. Reports from last year’s forum highlighted that
OESV crews were often known to work excessive hours,
risking significant levels of fatigue in a demanding
operational environment.
The risk of crew fatigue onboard an OESV can be
attributed to a number of factors, including the increase in
project scale and distance from shore, a drive by develop-ers
to maximise ‘uptime’ of contracted offshore workers,
and self-applied pressure on operators and crews to meet
the increasing demands of clients. In this context, adher-ence
to international regulation and industry codes – in-cluding
the minimum rest time of 77 hours per week –
must be enforced.
While the industry works together to tackle these
factors at an organisational level, it is critical that there is
a shared understanding of how fatigue can affect the
safety of crews and passengers, and essential that crew
members and management teams can spot the key signs.
Attendees at the forum were briefed on how fatigue leads
to slow reaction times, poor concentration and corner
cutting, and were issued with copies of the Understanding
G NWA secretary Mark Ranson with Nautilus industrial
organiser Gary Leech.