Media releases

SafetyOn, the health and safety group for the onshore wind sector, will today be officially launched, helping to place health and safety at the forefront of all onshore wind activity and development.

A not-for-profit, member-led collaboration, SafetyOn brings together industry leaders, health and safety experts, regulators and supply chain organisations across the UK onshore wind sector.

Facilitated by the Energy Institute, which is providing the project management and secretariat for the group, SafetyOn will today be unveiled to industry attendees at the RenewableUK Wind & Emergency Response 2019 Conference in Birmingham.

The group will provide visibility about the sector’s health and safety performance, as well as assisting industry stakeholders to ensure key emerging risks are mitigated through co-operation and shared learnings.

Lindsay McQuade, SafetyOn Chair and ScottishPower Renewables Chief Executive said:

“The Onshore wind sector is a story of success in the UK – its delivered investment of £35bn, employs thousands and underpins the UK’s position as a leader in decarbonisation.

“With that success comes responsibility to ensure that every single employee has a safe and healthy working environment. I’m delighted to see the industry coming together to form SafetyOn to support this ambition.

“Over the next year I will be working with industry leaders to ensure that the message of health and safety is at the heart of the onshore wind renewable industry.”

Keith Wallace, SafetyOn Vice Chair and Service Director UK & Ireland – Vestas Celtic Wind Technology Ltd said:

“I am in no doubt that the formation of SafetyOn will be instrumental in the positive progress of safety performance for onshore wind in the UK.

“Through SafetyOn we can drive collaboration and accountability as a team to leverage this experience for the wider benefit. We must take the lead by solving common problems together, setting high standards and deliver on our commitments.”

Louise Kingham OBE FEI, Chief Executive - Energy Institute said:

“With thousands of people employed in the UK’s onshore wind industry, SafetyOn is playing a part in making sure they return home safe.

“As a global partner to the energy industry, the EI is pleased to support the work of SafetyOn in ensuring inclusivity across the whole sector using its tested collaboration model, working in partnership with the HSE and other regulators to uphold safe and responsible operations.”

SafetyOn’s primary objective for 2019 is to develop a means of collecting industry wide health and safety performance data and statistical analysis of industry trends to drive empirical decision making in areas of health and safety improvement.

Other key good practice work programmes include switchgear safety in the wind industry, integrated onshore emergency response and working with suspended loads.

Notes for editors

1. For more information contact Neil Michie at nmichie@energyinst.org or 020 7467 7132.


2. SafetyOn is the health and safety group for the onshore wind sector.
   
   Providing a voice for the dynamic and innovative onshore wind industry, we ensure transparency about the industry’s health and safety performance, as well as assisting industry stakeholders to see that key emerging risks are mitigated through co-operation and shared learnings.
   
   We work to provide health and safety leadership across the onshore wind sector, monitor and gather data on the health and safety performance of the sector and share knowledge and good practice with industry stakeholders.
   
   Working through the Energy Institute we will establish an open network of safety and health experts, professionals and stakeholders to promote a strong, sustainable and continually improving health and safety culture.

3. More information about SafetyOn can be found on its dedicated website: www.safetyon.com


4. The founding members of the SafetyOn group are:
   • Banks Renewables
   • EDF Renewables
   • E.ON Climate & Renewables UK
   • Enercon Services UK Ltd
   • Energy Institute
   • Fred Olsen Renewables
   • GE Energy (UK) Ltd
   • Innogy Renewables UK Ltd
   • Natural Power
   • Nordex Acciona Windpower
   • Renewable Energy Systems Ltd
   • RenewableUK
   • Senvion UK Ltd
   • Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ltd
   • SSE Renewables
   • ScottishPower Renewables
   • Vattenfall UK
   • Ventient Energy
   • Vestas Celtic Wind Technology Ltd
5. The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together.

We gather and share essential knowledge about energy, provide the skills that are helping us all use it more wisely, and develop the good practice needed to keep it safe and secure.

We articulate the voice of energy experts, taking the know-how of around 20,000 members and 250 companies from 120 countries to the heart of the public debate.

And we’re an independent, not-for-profit, safe space for evidence-based collaboration, an honest broker between industry, academia and policy makers.

6. The EI has been the secretariat for the G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation (formerly the G9 group) since 2012.