December 15, 2022

Wind Limited Access Standard: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

On November 1st Global Wind Organisation (GWO) releases the Wind Limited Access Standard. This new standard was developed to provide a minimum viable safety training for infrequent visitors to onshore and offshore wind turbine generators (WTG) environments when supervised by at least two GWO Basic Safety Training (BST) qualified persons.

1. Can a participant take only the Offshore Module?

The Offshore Limited Access Module cannot be taken independently and must be taken in conjunction with Onshore Limited Access Module as a one-day training.

2. Who is the WLA Standard intended for?

The Wind Limited Access Standard is intended for infrequent visitors (as defined by the duty holder) to WTG environments. Importantly it does not provide participants with the knowledge to:

• carry out work on WTGs or enter faulty WTGs.

• independently take responsibility for equipment or to mitigate hazards and risks present in WTG environments.

For activities that fall outside of the Wind Limited Access Standard scope, and for more frequent visitors to WTG environment GWO continues to recommend its Basic Safety Training Standard.

3. Can the WLA be used for single day jobs or other types of short-term work in a WTG?

The WLA does not provide the training necessary to safely work in a WTG. Therefore, it cannot be used to access a turbine for single day jobs or other types of short-term work in a WTG.

4. How are we meant to give an individual enough knowledge on first aid on this amount of time?

The first aid exercises are meant to create awareness on the individual and not to relay the responsibility on the infrequent visitor to deliver first aid.

5. How experienced should WLA instructors be?

The biggest challenge to instructors is to deliver enough information to create awareness of a situation without going into detail. For this reason, we recommend WLA instructors be highly experienced to identify possible gaps in the participants’ understanding.

6. Do instructors for the Offshore Module require a valid working at heights instructor certificate?

As the Offshore Module of WLA includes hooked climbing on a ladder and emergency double descents into water, a valid Working at Heights certificate is required for WLA instructors.

7. Can the WLA be trained onsite?

Due to the intended participants unfamiliarity with the WTG environment, training WLA modules should always be trained in the safety of a training centre. Therefore, it cannot be trained onsite.

8. How long does a WLA audit lasts?

The Wind Limited Access Standard audit is two hours long, focusing a full hour into each module. The auditor will focus on quality management systems. Particularly how aligned is the lesson plan with the requirements in the Standard (Content, duration, etc) and in the qualification of the instructors. There should not be any other areas of focus, as in regards physical equipment or risk management, these are covered in the BST audit.

9. What qualifications does an instructor require to deliver WLA?

An instructor must be qualified in BST to deliver WLA, this includes all BST modules. If the training provider is only certifying in the Onshore Module, the instructor does not need to be certified in the Sea Survival Module.