Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Falls
•
Confined space entry
•
Fire
•
Lockout/tagout
•
Medical and first aid
•
Crane, derrick, and hoist safety
•
Electrical safety
•
Machine guarding
•
Respiratory protection
Each of these hazards and controls is briefly discussed below. (Note that many of
the hazards discussed below apply, in one way or another, to other renewable energy
sources.)
Falls
*
Workers who erect and maintain wind turbines can be exposed to fall hazards. Wind
turbines vary in height, but can be over 100 feet tall (some are over 400 feet tall).
Exposure to high winds may make work at high elevations even more hazardous.
OSHA has different fall protection requirements for construction (installation of
towers) and general industry (maintenance). During installation, workers may need
to access individual turbine sections to weld or fit individual sections together, run
electrical or other lines, and install or test equipment—often at heights greater than
100 feet. Construction workers on wind farms when exposed to fall distances of 6
feet or more must be protected from falls by guardrail systems, safety net systems,
or a personal fall arrest system.
Confined Space Entry
†
Wind energy employers need to look at the spaces that workers enter to determine
if they meet OSHA's definition of a confined space. By definition, a confined space:
•
Is large enough for an employee to enter fully and perform assigned work
•
Is not designed for continuous occupancy by the employee
•
Has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit
Some confined spaces have recognized hazards, such as low oxygen environments,
which can pose a risk for asphyxiation, or accumulation of hazardous gases. These
confined spaces are called
permit-required confined spaces
(PRCSs) and require
additional safety precautions. Wind energy employers need to look at the hazards of
any confined spaces to determine whether those spaces are permit-required confined
spaces. By definition, a PRCS has one or more of these characteristics:
*
Adapted from OSHA's
Green Job Hazards: Wind Energy—Falls
,
http://www.osha.gov/dep/green-
jobs/windenergy_falls.html;
Spellman, F.R.,
Safe Work Practices for Green Energy Jobs
, DEStech
Publishers, Lancaster, PA, 2013.
†
Adapted from OSHA's
Green Job Hazards: Wind Energy—Confined Spaces
,
http://www.osha.gov/
