News from Esbjerg

Winds of Change

The wind industry is growing rapidly; in fact 2010 was the best year ever for the Danish wind industry, although one of the major players in the market chose to make almost 2500 people redundant alone in Denmark. This was primarily in the production area.

In the coming years it is expected that there will be a rise in the installation of new wind turbines, primarily offshore. With the wind industry as one of our main focus areas, we have recruited two new instructors specializing in courses for the wind industry to support the already large number of instructors delivering courses in both the wind and offshore sector.

So what does it mean to be an instructor in the wind segment and what does it actually take to work in the wind industry?

The wind industry is not yet regulated by conventions, legislation or industry standards like in the Maritime and Offshore industries. This means that each manufacturer has their own set of training standards. When a wind turbine is sold the energy company running the wind farm may also have their own set of training regulations that are then put on top of the requirements from the windmill manufacturer.
This can actually amount to quite a lot of training. For example you could find that a wind technician coming from one manufacturer with a valid first aid certificate to another wind manufacturer or subcontractor who require another first aid course and then would refuse to recognise technician's qualifications. So if the wind technician then has to install turbines for a energy company with its own first aid requirements, then they might be forced to actually take almost the same course three times in a very short period of time.

To deal with this the wind industry is working in a forum called Global Wind Organization (GWO). It is expected that GWO will set at number a course standards that course providers will have to live up to in order to be recognized within the industry.

Where does that leave Maersk Training Esbjerg? It is here that we head up the Maersk Training Group effort in the wind industry. This in turns gives us the responsibility for staying on top of what is going on in the wind industry and keep a broad network of industry majors and subcontractors who can provide us with the first hand knowledge of what is expected in the future.

We have excellent cooperation with the other training centres in the group ensuring that local legislation for the wind industry is kept up to date.

With the move to new locations (see over)we will see training facilities designed and aimed especially for the wind industry giving the course participants a training environment matching their work environment as close as possible.

Courses for Wind:

First Aid 12h
First Aid Refresher
Basic Harness
Basic High Rescue and Evacuation
Basic Firefighting
Sea Survival
First Aid At Work
CCNSG Safety Passport
L-AUS
And some specific technical training and OPITO courses which is required in some areas of the world.