Form  6.2

Response

SHERIFFDOM OF SOUTH STRATHCLYDE, DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY AT DUMFRIES                                                    

Court ref: DUM-B241-22

RESPONSE

to the

DETERMINATION OF SHERIFF SCOTT PATTISON

UNDER THE INQUIRIES INTO FATAL ACCIDENTS AND SUDDEN DEATHS ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2016

IN THE

INQUIRY INTO THE DEATH OF ANTONIO JOAO DA SILVA LINARES

To: the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

1.

The Health and Safety Executive, being a person to whom a recommendation under section 26(1)(b) was addressed, do respond as follows.

2.

The Health and Safety Executive was a participant in the inquiry.

3.

(Set out in full each recommendation in numbered paragraphs together with your corresponding response. Please respond as fully as possible).

HSE notes that the recommendations were made to the wind turbine industry broadly defined (and specific companies asked to respond to the recommendations and promulgate the determination within that industry), with the Health and Safety Executive asked to assist in this regard.

Industry Awareness of the Law and Guidance Pertaining to emergency response.

The wind industry is aware that suitable and sufficient arrangements for dealing with any foreseeable emergency, must be made, implemented and tested by being put into effect at suitable intervals. The expectation is that duty holders have performance criteria in place for timely rendering of assistance / evacuation of personnel from a wind turbine.

Relevant legal provisions

Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 Section 3(1) – It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM), by virtue of Regulation 16, Regulation 30(1) - Where necessary in the interests of the health or safety of a person on a construction site, suitable and sufficient arrangements for dealing with any foreseeable emergency must be made and, where necessary, implemented…..

Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981, Regulation 3(1) - An employer shall provide, or ensure that there are provided, such equipment and facilities as are adequate and appropriate in the circumstances for enabling first-aid to be rendered to his employees if they are injured or become ill at work.

Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 8(1)(a) – Every employer shall establish and where necessary give effect to appropriate procedures to be followed in the event of serious and imminent danger to persons at work in his undertaking.

Guidance

Managing health and safety in construction - Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 Guidance on Regulations L153

Published 2015 https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/l153.pdf

HSE/MCA Offshore Information Sheet 02/2019 (Regulatory Expectations for Emergency Response Arrangements for the Offshore Renewable Energy Industry. Rev 02/04/2024) https://www.hse.gov.uk/offshore/assets/docs/is2-2019.pdf

SafetyOn Onshore Emergency Response Good practice guidelines for onshore wind energy developments.

The guidance is built upon the RenewableUK (RUK) Integrated Offshore Emergency Response (IOER) document, further developed and tailored to the onshore wind industry by a dedicated work group and approved by the SafetyOn Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). https://safetyon.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/777521/SafetyOn-Onshore-Emergency-Response.pdf

HSE will continue to liaise with various industry bodies in relation to the recommendations below, including:

Offshore Renewable Energy Emergency Forum (OREEF) which is dedicated to promoting emergency preparedness and response strategies for the growing offshore renewable energy sector, particularly wind energy: https://oeer.uk/oreef/

G+ is the global health and safety organisation, bringing together the offshore wind industry to pursue shared goals and outcomes: Home | G+ Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation

SafetyOn is the health and safety organisation for the Onshore wind sector. Providing advice, sharing best industry practice, promoting innovation and creating positive change in the UK and Ireland’s onshore wind industry: https://safetyon.com/

RenewableUK is a trade association that advocates for the UK renewable energy industry and hosts events, publications and reports: https://www.renewableuk.com/

Global Wind Organisation (GWO) is a non-profit industry association founded and owned by its members who are drawn from globally leading renewable energy manufacturers, owners and operators. GWO sets common international standards for safety training and workforce development: https://www.globalwindsafety.org/

Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) formerly known as Oil and Gas UK is a trade association for the UK offshore energy industry, a not for profit membership organisation. Its remit includes supporting the UK’s integrating energy sector including electrification of offshore oil and gas facilities with wind farm developers and technology innovation: https://oeuk.org.uk/

Recommendation 1

There should be joint health and safety drills/exercises on windfarms in construction involving the principal contractor(s) and all relevant subcontractors (those working on the construction of the turbines at any stage) which focus on a rescue from height.

HSE response

Emergency drills and exercises must include significant focus on rescue from height, as required by the legal requirements and guidance listed above.

HSE’s inspections of windfarm sites sample various aspects including emergency response arrangements such as drills and exercises to practice emergency procedures at construction and operational phases of the windfarm.

Improvement Notices and Letters have been issued where HM Inspectors found failure to devise and implement suitable emergency response arrangements. This includes testing of emergency arrangements by allocating the necessary resources to allow scheduled drills and exercises to be carried out, as well as identifying any improvements and updating emergency plans.

Enforcement action will continue to be taken if a duty holder does not meet legal requirements. 

Recommendation 2

There should be basket stretchers or spinal boards which are able to be used to keep a casualty as horizontal as possible without undue pressure on the chest area during a rescue from height, either in every wind turbine (both operational and under construction) or very close by on site.

HSE response

This is specifically covered in G+ guidance: Good practice guideline

Working at height in the offshore wind industry Second edition:  https://www.gplusoffshorewind.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/633556/Work-at-Height-Guidelines-2nd-Edition-B31jk-web-version.pdf The design of wind turbines means that the stretcher must be orientated vertically to pass through the hatches but should be returned to the horizontal for the rest of the operation. The stretchers or spinal boards should be suitable to avoid pressure on the chest area during rescue. HSE will engage and discuss further with industry stakeholder groups to discuss this issue including hatches in new designs going forward.

HSE windfarm inspections sample various aspects including emergency response issues, such as whether duty holders provide equipment, facilities and a suitable number of trained persons as are “adequate and appropriate” to render first aid to persons if they are injured or become ill at work.

Prohibition and Improvement Notices have been served on CDM Clients and Contractors where HM Inspectors found unsuitably trained first aiders or inadequate equipment to deal with all foreseeable medical incidents while the contractor workforce were undertaking construction work and operational activities.

Enforcement action will continue to be taken if a duty holder does not meet legal requirements. 

Recommendation 3

The wind turbine industry should further consider whether technology to identify when a person has disconnected from a fall arrest system could be utilised so as to provide an audible or visual warning to other colleagues working in the vicinity.

HSE response

HSE agrees that further technological innovation should be considered.  HSE is continuing to discuss with industry stakeholders specifically on the issue of investigating possible design improvements to fall arrest systems, to prevent similar incidents. 

Any changes to current arrangements need careful management of change to ensure all aspects are fully considered.  For example, defining what action is expected of colleagues if an audible/visual warning is activated.

NOTES

(Please refer to section 28 of the Act. A person to whom a recommendation has been addressed under section 26(1) of the Act, if they were also a participant in the inquiry, is under a legal duty to respond to those recommendations in writing. Persons who were not participants but to whom recommendations have been directed are encouraged to respond, though they are not obliged to.

The response must set out–

(a)       details of what the respondent has done or proposes to do in response to the recommendation, or

(b)       if the respondent has not done, and does not intend to do, anything in response to the recommendation, the reasons for that.

A response must be given to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service within the period of 8 weeks beginning with the day on which the respondent receives a copy of the determination in which the recommendation is made.

The response may be published, though you may make representations to SCTS as to the withholding of all or part of the response from publication.

A response made under section 28(1) is not admissible in evidence, and may not be founded on, in any judicial proceedings of any nature).