Qualified Electrical Workers (QEW) Program for Wind Operations
Guidelines to help companies build a QEW program
Building, operating, and maintaining any power generation project requires a high level of electrical safety awareness, training, technical skills, knowledge, and the personal discipline to always act in a safe manner. To build such awareness, knowledge and skills requires training, including on specific tasks since each task presents different hazards and mitigation procedures.
The Guidelines for Wind Operations Qualified Electrical Workers represent a basic set of criteria for a Qualified Electrical Worker (QEW) program with suggestions for developing the training, managing the verification of skills and the implementation in the field including both the technical skills and the electrical safety elements to be considered. This is intended as a guideline to assist companies in preparing their own QEW program.
ACP’s Electrical Safety Working Group finalized these Guidelines for Wind Operations Qualified Electrical Workers. The Working Group is in the process of developing a similar document for solar.
If you have questions about the guidelines, please contact safety@cleanpower.org.
Repower EHS Lessons Learned Survey Results
Lessons for safely repowering wind facilities
The wind industry partially repowered over 12 gigawatts of land-based wind energy facilities in the U.S. between 2015–2021. While the focus on repowering has traditionally been centered around market drivers and economics, this report highlights how to ensure the work is done safely.
In this report, you’ll find lessons learned for development, construction, and operation of repowered facilities from the companies who have done the work. ACP hopes that by sharing these experiences more broadly, we can help with the industry’s continuous improvement on safety performance.
Safety Alert System
ACP has a renewed focus on preventing serious injuries and fatalities (SIFs) in the clean energy industry.
As one method to support this aim, ACP is launching a formalized Safety Incident Alert Clearinghouse to share ongoing learnings across the entire industry. This clearinghouse will aggregate anonymous examples of SIFs and near-misses so that the entire industry can quickly address underlying risks that could lead to harm for workers in the industry.
For ACP Members interested, please email safety@cleanpower.org.
Safety Campaigns
The American clean power industry strongly values the clean energy workforce—our success hinges on their success. Because of our workforce commitment, safety and health training and awareness are core values at ACP.
Our Environmental, Health, and Safety Subcommittee safety awareness campaigns are at the forefront of ACP’s priorities. Every October is ACP Safety Month, focusing on key areas to help keep your employees healthy and safe.
Please email safety@cleanpower.org if you need safety awareness campaign materials.
Introduction to Safety 10 OSHA Training
ACP has two 10-hour OSHA training programs available for the wind energy industry: the ACP Introduction to Safety: Wind Energy and the ACP Introduction to Construction Safety: Wind Energy. The purpose is to promote workplace safety and health and to make workers more knowledgeable about workplace hazards and their rights. Each product includes the materials needed to provide the training to your employees.
ACP Introduction to Safety: Wind Energy
ACP Introduction to Safety: Wind Energy is a training program developed by the Environmental, Health, and Safety Subcommittee to help managers in the industry conduct the OSHA General Industry 10-Hour Outreach Training.
Each trainee will gain a complete understanding of OSHA, wind site operation hazards and warning signs, risk mitigation, emergency response planning, how to reduce workplace injuries, and much more. This 10-hour training program is essential to keep your team up to date on the health and safety standards and best practices. The Introduction to Safety: Wind Energy program includes:
- 11 lessons in PowerPoint and PDF format: Intro to OSHA, Walking Working Surfaces, Emergency Action Plan, Electrical Safety, Personal Protective Equipment, Hazard Communication, Materials Handling, Safety and Health Programs, Ergonomics, Fall Protection, Confined Spaces
- Pretests and posttests
- Instructor lesson plan
- Student guide
- Handouts
- OSHA documents
- Sample forms
This product is available for purchase online at ACP’s Bookstore.
ACP Introduction to Construction Safety: Wind Energy
ACP Introduction to Construction Safety: Wind Energy is a training program developed by the Environmental, Health, and Safety Subcommittee to help managers in the industry conduct the OSHA Construction Industry 10-Hour Outreach Training.
The training covers a variety of construction safety and health hazards that a worker may encounter at a wind project construction site. Each trainee will gain a complete understanding of OSHA, wind site operation hazards and warning signs, risk mitigation, emergency response planning, how to reduce workplace injuries, and much more.
The Introduction to Construction Safety: Wind Energy program includes:
- 14 lessons in PowerPoint and PDF format: Intro to OSHA, Electrical Safety, Struck-by Hazards, Caught Between, Fall Protection, Cranes and Derricks, Personal Protective Equipment, Health Hazards, Excavation, Material Handling, Scaffolds, Hand and Power Tools, Stairs and Ladders, Emergency Rescue
- Pretests and posttests
- Instructor lesson plan
- Student guide
- Handouts
- OSHA documents
- Sample forms
This product is available for purchase online at ACP’s Bookstore.
Additional awareness materials.
Other Workforce Resources
Notifications
3M Fall Protection Update October 2021: Update to stop use advisory to the wind energy industry compatibility of powered climb assist systems with climbing ladder fall arrest systems. Click here to read the full notice.
Electrical Safety Resources
The following resources were developed by ACP’s Electrical Safety Working Group.
Questions? Please contact safety@cleanpower.org.
