Excessive safety in wind?: “Sometimes rules come on top of rules”

In the wind industry, there are safety courses from the Global Wind Organisation, the so-called GWO courses of varying duration, which are intended to give technicians access to work at height on wind turbines. But at GNL Wind Service A/S, which services wind turbines, the owners experience a reality where there are even more requirements.

- We comply with safety regulations, and that's how it should be, states owner and CEO Gert Nygaard and elaborates on where he sees a problem:

- Sometimes rules are added to the rules that are already there. For example, some sites require that a man with ten years of experience must have GWO's Basic Technical Training, which takes five days.

It is a course that one of the world's largest providers of safety courses, RelyOn Nutec, describes in their course material translated from English:

"The Basic Technical Training modules are targeted at course participants who have no experience with hydraulics, mechanical or electrical systems. However, course participants with some experience in these areas, who do not come from the wind turbine industry, can also be offered."

That is also a reason why the company owner has a clear position on the additional rules.

- Sometimes the safety requirements have become too unreasonable, says Gert Nygaard Laursen, and he is supplemented by his wife, who is also a co-owner of the company:

- Our technicians are all on the GWO courses, but the OEMs and energy companies require extra courses, explains Helle Ankjær Laursen as an example.

Sometimes the company's employees experience that it is almost difficult to get the work done.

- Our people experience abroad that they are looking for reasons why the work cannot be done, explains Gert Nygaard Laursen about a special situation.