The UK’s onshore wind industry has achieved its lowest recorded incident rate in five years, according to the latest annual report by SafetyOn, the health and safety body for the sector. This milestone comes despite a significant surge in industry activity throughout 2024. 6n5743

Total reported incidents rose slightly to 654 in 2024, up from 606 in 2023. However, this occurred alongside a 17% increase in total hours worked, from 7.5 million to 8.8 million hours. When assessed relative to the increased workload, the incident rate per hour dropped substantially, marking a major achievement in operational safety.

“The industry continues to grow at pace, but it’s crucial that this growth remains aligned with safety improvements — and this year’s data show real progress,” said SafetyOn in its executive summary.

Source: SafetyOn

Sustained safety improvements and incident response 6j66j

A key highlight from the report is the 59% reduction in lost work day incidents, which dropped from 17 in 2023 to just seven in 2024 — the lowest number since SafetyOn began recording such data. This suggests not only a decline in overall incident severity, but also the effectiveness of safety interventions across the sector.

Emergency response medical evacuations (ERMEs) also saw a modest decrease, from seven to six incidents, with half involving electrical systems — consistent with 2023 trends. In parallel, total injury-related incidents decreased to 100, down from 124. The most common injuries remained those to the hands, though these saw a 15% year-on-year reduction. Significantly, incidents involving hand and power tools dropped from 17 to just five, reflecting the success of targeted campaigns such as SafetyOn’s award-winning Hand Injury Campaign.

Persistent challenges: access, working at height, and manual handling 4a245w

Despite these improvements, the report highlights several areas requiring renewed focus. Although high potential incidents declined by 8% (from 105 to 97), activities like routine maintenance (40% of such incidents), access/egress (11%), and working at height (10%) remain key risk contributors. Notably, access-related incidents more than doubled from nine to 20, flagging a need for closer scrutiny.

Meanwhile, manual handling incidents rose from 16 to 23, making it the leading cause of injury. To address this, SafetyOn and G+ will launch a manual handling awareness campaign in 2025, aiming to promote better design, risk assessment, and workforce education on lifting and moving loads safely.