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By Myron Levin, FairWarning.org
Wind power is riding a strong breeze. In the last five years, generating capacity in the U.S. has nearly quadrupled. Clusters of tubular wind towers, rising up to 300 feet above ridgelines and gusty plains, are an increasingly familiar sight.
But in the scramble to expand clean energy and green jobs, the wind industry has fallen short on worker safety.
Thousands of the giant wind machines violate a federal requirement to give technicians who work inside the towers enough maneuvering space to get up and down their ladders safely. The standard says the space near the ladder should be free of permanent obstructions that could cause serious head or back injuries if a climber slips or is moving fast.
There are about 36,000 of the wind towers in the U.S., and more are being added all the time. Most are produced overseas to meet international codes. For reasons they won’t explain, the manufacturers either ignored the U.S. standard, or thought it wouldn’t apply to them.
The companies "evidently didn’t look into U.S. codes and standards, especially safety standards, in doing their designs," said Patrick Bell, a senior safety engineer with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal-OSHA, and a member of a federal OSHA wind energy task force.
OSHA officials say they’re not aware of any serious injuries so far. Still, the violations are so widespread that they have flummoxed safety regulators, who are trying to figure out the extent of the hazard and what to do about it.
"We could conceivably issue citations," said Bell of Cal-OSHA, "but we might end up taking all of our compliance officers off other industries to run from one wind farm to the next."
"We are trying to work with the industry," he said, "because it’s a huge industry with all the wind towers going up."
The manufacturers have been reluctant to talk about the problem. Officials with Vestas Americas, part of Vestas Wind Systems A/S of Denmark, the world’s biggest turbine supplier, declined to be interviewed and would not respond to written questions. GE Energy, the top U.S. wind turbine maker, took the same stance. Both companies referred inquiries to the American Wind Energy Assn., a trade group.
Michele M. Mihelic, the association’s manager of labor, health and safety policy, said in an email to FairWarning that the group "cannot make a blanket statement that all wind turbines comply or not."
"Each wind turbine make and model is different," she said.
The OSHA standard dates to the 1970s, and applies to the use of fixed ladders at work sites generally, not to wind towers specifically. It requires a clearance of 30 inches from the ladder so workers can safely move up and down. If there are permanent obstructions within the climbing space, they must be shielded so workers can squeeze past without getting hurt.
The main issue with tower designs is the use of heavy steel bolts and rims known as flanges to join their long, tubular sections. In the two or three spots where the sections are fastened, the bolts and flanges intrude at least several inches into the safety space.
Two field technicians have sought to draw attention to the issue, saying they were stunned by the prevalence of the problem.
"Between my friends and I … we’ve been in thousands of wind turbines and haven’t found one that’s compliant with this issue," said Ed Oliver, 47, of Dana Point, Calif.
"We can’t believe this exists everywhere we go," said Nick Nichols, 45, of Zephyr Cove, Nev. "The regulations are there for a reason."
The men said they have seen nothing worse than bruised tailbones and minor scrapes from encounters with the flanges. But they said it’s only a matter of time before there are serious injuries. They pointed to the growing use of "climb assists" that use motors and pulleys to support part of the weight of technicians, allowing them to climb faster and basically rappel downward in the descent.
Oliver and Nichols have complained to OSHA. They also took the unusual step of offering the industry their own version of a safety device, called a deflector. The website for their company, Pinnacle Wind USA, shows what looks like a short section of a playground slide covering a flange. "Developed BY tower climbers, FOR tower climbers," it says.
Their efforts haven’t brought any love from the wind industry. In August, they were stunned by an email to Nichols from Mihelic of the wind association.
"You should…be aware that there are people posing as OSHA compliance officers and/or OSHA consultants and are threatening people in the industry with citations if they don’t buy your product," the email said.
Mihelic added that OSHA had been told about the scheme and "has requested that if any of our members are approached in this manner to please report it to them so they can investigate."
The two men immediately suspected it was a bogus claim designed to discredit them. Soon after, Nichols enlisted the help of U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., to see what OSHA knew about it.
David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health, responded Oct. 11 with a letter to Heller that seemed to contradict Mihelic. OSHA officials were unaware of "any reported cases of OSHA impersonators threatening companies to purchase Pinnacle Wind USA products," the letter said.
Mihelic told FairWarning she stood by her email to Nichols.
Meanwhile, the ladder issue remains up in the air.
OSHA has not yet issued citations for violations of the standard. Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville, Fla., and chairman of its wind energy task force, said the agency is preparing a "letter of interpretation" to clarify how the standard will be applied
The result could be a mandate for the industry to retrofit thousands of towers. Or, the industry could get a pass if the agency decides the hazard can be controlled by other measures, such as training.
The task force is examining other safety issues in the industry in the wake of some serious accidents.
In August, 2007, a worker was killed and another injured in the collapse of a tower at a wind farm near Wasco, Ore. Also, OSHA fined Outland Energy Services $378,000 for safety violations after an employee suffered serious electrical burns at an Illinois wind farm in October, 2010.
FairWarning is a nonprofit, online investigative news organization focused on public health and safety issues.
Leave a Comment:
They need to fix this. And why can't we make these here in the USA? We could use the jobs.
If this is easily fixable with a shield then why the reticence to install them?
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Because its all about money. Build outside US and save big bucks. Don't follow OSHA and save even more. That's why business move outside the US, to save money while keeping the savings to themselves.
And why don't we make these wind turbines here?
Because for decades they've been building up this wind industry in Europe while back in the U.S. the GOP and Big Oil gave no support to any type of alternative energy industries. That's why.
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Grumpy61, the wind industry did not move out of the U.S. It was never here to start with.
See above post.
Yeah,Pearl Harbor was the republicans fault also,fool.
Zack, you might be surprised to find out that not only is wind power a manufacturing industry that America can compete in, it’s a market that we are winning.
The U.S. has an inherent competitive advantage in manufacturing turbines to supply the American wind farm market, which, because of our enormous wind resources, is one of the world's largest and best markets. That competitive advantage arises from the fact that turbines and their main components (towers, blades, generators and gearboxes) are heavy and expensive to transport around the world.
In fact, over the last six years, U.S. domestic production of wind turbine components has grown 12-fold to more than 400 facilities in 43 states, "insourcing" safe manufacturing jobs from overseas back to the U.S., supporting 75,000 domestic jobs.
Today, more than 60 percent of the content of wind turbines installed in the U.S. is being created domestically – but wait, it gets even better. A recently released study found that with stable tax policy the wind industry can grow to almost 100,000 American jobs in the next four years, including growing the wind manufacturing sector by one third to 46,000 American manufacturing jobs.
The bottom line? Wind energy is safe, clean, affordable, homegrown and a great source of American manufacturing jobs.
If you want to see "stupid"come to Duluth, MN where a lot of wind turbines come into the US. All summer long there are turbines and blades coming through here from foreign manufactures and are shipped all over the country. It is nothing to see turbine blades going to northern states wind farms, but, it is also common to see turbine blades coming into Duluth, from North Dakota factories, loaded onto ships and exported back to European ports. What's wrong with this picture? I know of one wind farm in MN that did use US made blades. Who ever figured that out probably got fired. LOL
Whaaaaaaaaat? Safety rules? Where the heck are they coming from? You mean with all we've done to crush unions there are still people around to complain? How did we miss them? I want heads to roll over this.
The Company's that make them here were closed when Obama signed the last 3 free trade agreements into law .
Now they are all made over seas , the Union Jobs went too !
BOB RI 123
Wow, Bob, that's pretty impressive considering that the U.S. didn't close any wind industries due to trade agreements.
We never had any type of real wind industry here. All of it was in Europe and has been for decades.
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Zack, Picard , Bob
I think all of you should do more research on a topic that neither of you know much about. I am a wind tec and have climbed many towers and know this is not a problem, the problem lies with lazy tec's who don't want to comply with safty rules and training. Zack we do make towers in the united states do some research instead of opening your mouth about something you don't know about. Bob your full of S%$T you dont even know what you are talking about when it comes to free trade in the wind sector do more research and learn from it , then you and I can have a real coversation on this topic. DON'T OPEN YOUR MOUTH IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT PERIOD.
It's good that you're doing your job, Mark. Being safe also means that the others around you have a chance to be safe as well. I'm sure you've done a job of educating the lazy ones about the dangers on the job around you. No one wants to get hurt or killed.. or watch others have it done to them.
But OSHA is there for everyone, even the lazy ones. They are there to point out the problems that can arise and cause injuries. Because they know there will be ones that will not follow instructions. If anything, OSHA can help save the company money in the long run, by suggesting fixes and solutions that could keep the company from being sued.
Is OSHA perfect? Far from it. OSHA has been a pain in the keister for many companies and workers over the years. I've seen and experienced it first hand what OSHA can do. But in the grand scheme of things, we need at least something looking over the shoulders of businesses. They're more concerned about profit than the welfare of their workers.
So you call yourself a "Wind tec" Mark. Climbed many towers you say? And hazardous safety conditions aren't a problem unless your a "lazy tech" because the rest of us have been trained to avoid safety hazards and comply with safety rules. Safety rules are created for a reason. OSHA regulations were created for a reason to. Have you ever considered how an assisted rescue inside the tower might go bad due to a climbers lanyards getting hung up on the flange bolts? Or how a tailbone could get seriously hurt or crushed if a climbers boot slips off a steel ladder rung at the wrong time as he's descending the tower? If you've never smacked your backside on a tower flange? Have you ever smacked your knee on the side rail of the ladder as you worked your way thru a hatch? Or smacked your elbow on a ladder bracket? If none of these things has ever happened to you, you haven't climbed many towers, or your a poser. All of these things are due to insufficient clearances that are an OSHA violation and can be cheaply and easily remedied, but the industry that talks about safety so much is fighting back and resisting correcting the problems. I am a travel tech and have been climbing since 2008, been all over, in lots of different towers, not just one site, or one type of tower.
So much for the thousands of un-exportable green collar jobs, eh?
Wind turbines are the most ugly thing to happen to some once picturesque scenery.
pwd
you must be an oil and coal lover hu.
I think they look awesome, perhaps not as nice as the natural view but pretty easy on the eyes.
Have you ever seen them west of Palm Springs?? Must be close to a 1000 of them.If you think that looks nice you have weird taste.
Like anything else beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I think the buildings in NYC are a beautiful site my friend thinks they are ugly.
You are exactly right! Wind turbine have ruined many a landscape. I live in Oregon and what was once a beautiful drive along the Columbia River now looks like a used appliance junk yard. Most of the time I drive by (couple of times a year) well over half (if any) are spinning. This is all along a river that has been providing hydroelectric power for decades.
Stop the maddness!
PWD, how many of those turbines in Palm Springs are even running??? Just rusting away in the desert, real green huh !!!
Paint them camo and you'll ever see em.
I work in the business, the safety rules are so strict they create dangerous situations. When your on top of a mountian and it's 33 degrees and it's rain and freezing rain blowing sideways at 50mph, you can't see anything with damn safety glasses on, I have run into thing because of them, slipped on frozen ground because of them, I've banged my head picking up those stupid helmits, if anything comes off a tower or a tower comes down, that helmit is useless, as are the safety vests that get caught on everthing. There are thousands of towers as they say, there has been no serious injurys, far less then falls in shopping malls I'm sure. For god sakes, let people work. How about we save the goverment some money and get rid of some of these safety morons. How about we build them in the U.S. and maybe they would meet U.S. standards. If anyone should pay for the repairs, it should be the companys that manufactured them. If they didn't comply they shouldn't have been able to sell them, I would say that they didn't follow osha standard, probably don't where they manufacture them either. As far as the fines they want to levee, how does that help the safety on any job?The fines have got so crazy over such minor infractions it is putting peole out of business. I'm sorry 2 people got hurt or killed in the enormous wind farm business, but I bet more osha workers got hurt on their job in the same amount of time.
You wear a helmit? It's called a hard hat, and has a chin strap so it can't blow off your head at a windy site. 50 mph winds huh, they let you climb in that? How many "ms" is that? Sounds like the site you work at has a nightmare of a safety program. The wind industry has had many serious injuries and some deaths, Myron only mentioned that one incident. If you don't believe me, research workers comp rates in the wind industry - highest rates in renewable energy. Nobody said anything about FINES or LEVY'S in the story either, we just want the safety violation remedied, for the good of all wind turbine techs nationwide. Fines do, however, get managements attention.
Mark, on the caithness wind farms website their research shows over 1000 accidents and 88 deaths since the 80's and it doesn't look like the U.S. is even mentioned. I wish the government didn't have to get involved to get this fixed, but no matter how much we tried complaining to EH&S Managers, they just ignored the situation.
I think Mark,you are a poser who just wants to rant about the govt,using the idea that you work in the industry as a smokescreen.Seen this troll method many times before.
Get your facts straight: A lot of these turbines are made in the USA now. There are 40+ manufacturing facilities and 80,000 American workers in this industry making homegrown energy, not fuel purchased from countries who dislike us.
Another interesting comment from the Fair Warning site from the wind industry: "It is noteworthy that the only company that has requested that OSHA require deflector plates on these flanges is a company that has developed and is marketing these flanges."
Don't hear of too many major injuries resulting from wind turbines, although when you are working with heavy loads and huge components in any industry, accidents can happen.
Drew, regarding how noteworthy it is that the guys sounding the alarm on these OSHA violations and safety hazards developed a remedy for the hazard, how do you think this came about? I, as well as many of my friends have been on the painful end of many unnecessary bumps, scrapes and bruises. In this economy most guys can't speak up because they don't want to rock the boat and lose either their next payraise or their paychecks. Somebody has to stand up for these guys and speak out for a simple remedy to a SAFETY HAZARD. What part of safety hazard and OSHA violation are you not understanding? If you climbed these towers and certified in rescue training you might understand how these flanges left untreated will pose a life threatening situation during an assisted rescue, to an American worker someday.
I would rather have the wind power which is by far cleaner than Nuclear Power any day.
I don't care who is filing the complaints. If the system is unsafe - FIX IT. TOO many construction workers die every year due to 1) company negligence - not worker laziness or stupidity. OSHA is there to enforce safety and compliance.
Nuclear > wind any day.
@America: 800 TWh annually. When you can make that much energy with wind power, let me know.
Matt,I think you already know wind is to supplement our energy requirements,not carry the whole load.Why are you acting dumb?Are you just another troll
John,
Matt isn't another troll. His question is very valid. Many people would love to see the entire US grid be carried by wind and solar. It won't happen though.
AWEA is cooperating with OSHA to develop a solution to this issue.
Worker safety is our highest priority. Wind energy workers are trained extensively for climbing and rescue scenarios and are not even permitted to climb a wind turbine unless they have passed the climb training test and are equipped with the proper safety equipment, harness, hard hat, etc.
It is noteworthy that the only company that has requested that OSHA require deflector plates on these flanges is a company that has developed and is marketing these flanges.
AWEA and the wind industry wants to work cooperatively with OSHA to ensure that the industry’s workers are safe from any hazard while also complying with all of OSHA’s and international regulations. These efforts will continue.
Kevin, you should really get your facts straight..........we do NOT develop, market, or sell "flanges". I will debate this issue publicly with you or anyone else at the AWEA any day, any time.
Thank you for acknowledging our efforts to address a valid nationwide SAFETY issue.
It is noteworthy that the ONLY people to help address this safety situation AFTER recognizing that a Federal Safety Violation exists, & the ONLY people to offer any kind of a “USEFUL SOLUTION”, are guys who ACTUALLY CLIMB these towers. NIOSH has recognized Pinnacle Wind USA to have a “Useful Solution” that is representative of Prevention thru Design (NIOSH’s PtD program to help design out hazards in the workplace).
It is also noteworthy that Federal OSHA Regulations state “any Potential Hazards”……not proven hazards.
Also of importance is the fact that un-protected flanges can adversely affect an assisted rescue effort inside the wind tower.
Anyone who actually CLIMBS wind towers would appreciate a Solution.
LOTS of Hypocrisy in the industry when it comes to SAFETY. Only problem is the hypocrites aren’t the ones being exposed to & or dealing with these potential hazards!
This issue needed to be addressed sooner or later. Federal OSHA Regulations exist for a reason.
A China's wind farm company has won the Federal funded project to which they have signed it in NV. And they are going to join the safety review.
Too bad we can't just send them back to china when they are poorly designed and don't meet the US requirements. Have they ever tried that. Oh wait, I forgot. The Corporations run the paid, professional politicians, We the People don't get a say in this, or anything else. The Paid Professional Politicians don't think We the People are smart enough to catch them. So far, they are right. We have to hand it to them. They know, We the People, "are" to lazy and stupid to stop them. At least, "We the People" have our memories of when we had a house, food, and a dream for the future. It is the only thing they can't "tax". Our dreams. At least not yet. At least on TV, the Adds are showing older, rich, white men getting the very young girls as being acceptable again. Future female fodder, with the right mind set, for the future 1% wealthy. How does that make you feel Dad?
Oh but Charlie.........we are doing something about it. Don't worry, this one will NOT be swept under the rug. I already have Elected Officials helping me out too.
You can view a video on our website at www.pinnaclewindusa.com to see how simple this issue can be resolved. Yes, we jumped on the opportunity to develop a Solution to this Safety Hazard because if we did not, someone else would have..........so why not the guys who brought this nationwide Safety Hazard to light???
To the "tech" who wears the "helmit".............uh, this is NOT a sandbox issue on some playground, this is the REAL WORLD man & this Safety Hazard & Federal OSHA Violation is a REAL problem. As far as your "lazy techs" go.........I'll climb up & down towers doing circles around you any day.