Risk assessment of hazards due to the installation and maintenance of onshore wind turbines

Abstract

In this work, an assessment of four types of risks is carried out for wind turbines during four phases, namely: transportation, installation, operation and maintenance. This work mainly focuses on onshore type of wind turbines and briefly mentioning the offshore wind turbines. The introduction gives an overview of the main parts and components of wind turbine, in addition to discussing the process of risk assessment and the procedure to be followed in this study. The paper focuses on the following four risks: the risk of transporting large-scale wind turbine parts and components, the risk of workers slipping, tripping and falling during installation and maintenance of wind turbines, the risk of working in confined spaces, and finally the risk of ice accretion and irregular shedding when the wind turbine is in operation phase or even when it is stationary. The last type of risk is highly observed in cold climate regions. The four mentioned types of risks are the main ones out of the many risks that could appear during transporting, installing, operating and maintaining wind turbines. The main aim of this work is to contribute in the proper risk assessment of potential hazards, which enhances the ability to devise passive and active protection measures to reduce the effects of a catastrophic event.