Accidents & Safety
I’ve been concerned about safely working with wind energy since 1976 when I nearly killed myself taking down a 1930s-era windcharger. While wind energy is an environmentally beneficial technology–and that’s the reason we need to use it–it can and has killed. Consequently, I’ve been tracking fatal accidents in wind energy since I wrote an obituary for a colleague, Terry Mehrkam, in 1981. For this reason, my books on wind energy have always included a section on safety.
Viking Shetland wind farm: Man dies at Upper Kergord construction site
By
Jody Harrison
A 23-year-old man has died after he was injured at a windfarm construction site in Shetland.
Guilty plea by Kerry windfarm firm over the death of employee in Sligo landslide
By
Paul Deering
Patrick McCaffrey (37) from Rossinver, Co Leitrim died at Derrysallagh wind farm
Probe launched after death at Austrian wind farm
By
Craig Richard
Service provider dies after falling around 100 metres while installing Enercon turbine at a wind farm in eastern Austria
Dismissal of Charges Sought in Death of Skookumchuck Wind Farm Worker
By
Emily Fitzgerald
Three of the five codefendants charged with manslaughter for their alleged involvement in the death of a Chehalis man who died in January 2020 when a trench collapsed during construction of the Skookumchuck Wind Farm have filed motions asking Lewis County Superior Court to dismiss all charges against them.
Firms fined £900,000 over Ayrshire wind farm worker’s death
By
Two firms have been fined nearly £900,000 over the death of a security worker left in freezing conditions at a wind farm in East Ayrshire.
Wind—the Breath of Life or the Kiss of Death: Analysis of Wind Energy Fatalities
By
Paul Gipe
Presentation to Winterwind 2021 21 April on a Comparison of Wind’s Fatalities to that of Other Industries. Wind energy’s hazards, like its appearance on the landscape, are readily apparent. Wind energy hides no latent killers, no black lung, for example. When wind kills, it does so directly and with gruesome effect.
