Michael Zarin - Head of External Communications & Media Relations, Vestas Wind Systems

Turbine incidents often do attract media attention, and it is easy to understand why — they are pretty rare. And in an industry that operates with heavy machinery, with personnel sometimes working at great heights, and many people relying on the power produced by the turbines, it is natural that the media and public are keen to know more when an incident does occur.

Perhaps just as interesting, however, is how the industry deals with safety-related matters. In the past, industry players often had their own individual safety programs, standard practices were limited, and collaboration less common. Today, the industry is working more collaboratively than in the past with the common goal to eliminate safety-related incidents.

One example is the Global Wind Organisation. With GWO, turbine owners and manufacturers strive for injury-free work environments, and today cooperate on standardization and certification of safety training. Although safety-related incidents occur rarely, initiatives such as GWO are important for the industry. Safety is a common interest, and we encourage even greater collaboration and communication within the industry to learn from such incidents and thus reduce their occurrence still further.

Matthias Hollmann, General Manager, ABO Wind AG