Skill decay of wind turbine technicians in the use of rescue and evacuation device during emergency

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The management of wind farms consists of the operation, maintenance and administration of wind farms either onshore or offshore. Therefore, management must take into account the competency of the technicians since they are the initial responders in times of emergency rescue and evacuation. The aim of this paper is to explore and establish the occupational health and safety challenges in the wind energy industry in relation to wind technicians’ skill decay in the use of a rescue and evacuation device during an emergency. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the retention interval set by the training standards, the impacts of training on refresher and fresher trainees and their rates of ‘forgetting’ over a three-month period. Thirty trainees participated in the study with assessments at one and three-month intervals. While the performance level of all the participants improved during acquisition, there was observed decline in the performance level of the refresher and fresher trainees over a period of 28 and 90 days. In accessing the relative costs and benefits of sustaining procedural skills, it is considered that extra training will enhance retention regardless of whether it is during initial training or conducted as a refresher course afterwards. It is recommended that fresher trainees receive earlier refresher training to improve their proficiency. Although this project is on-going, these initial findings seem to be in conformity with previous skill decay research.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of CIB W099 Achieving Sustainable Construction Health and Safety, Lund, Sweden, 2-3 June 2014
Pages537-553
Number of pages15
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • acquisition
  • emergency rescue
  • retention
  • skill decay
  • wind technicians

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