Korea issues wind farm maintenance safety guide after Yeongdeok fire

South Korea's environment ministry said Thursday it has jointly issued a safety guide for wind farm maintenance workers with the labor ministry, months after a fire at a wind power plant in Yeongdeok highlighted the risks of servicing turbines.

The one-page sheet sets out the hazards at each work position, core safety rules for five stages of maintenance work, and mandatory precautions, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said. It also includes a sample risk assessment for blade maintenance, which the ministries described as irregular work with particularly high risk.

Wind turbines present different dangers depending on where a worker is: suffocation in confined spaces, falls from height, crushing, electric shock, fire, and high winds or lightning. The ministries drew up the material after the Yeongdeok fire on March 23, incorporating the characteristics of high-altitude and confined-space work and feedback from field workers and industry.

It will be distributed to 141 wind farms currently in commercial operation as well as to developers, turbine manufacturers and maintenance companies, and posted on the industrial safety portal and the Korea Wind Energy Industry Association website.

The labor ministry plans to publish a broader renewable energy safety guide for wind power in November, covering offshore wind and the installation and dismantling of equipment.

"A safety-based management system is essential for the sustainable rollout of wind power," said Lee Kyung-soo, the environment ministry's renewable energy policy director. "The government will work with related ministries and industry to make sure this material takes root in the field."

Kim Bu-hee, the labor ministry's industrial safety prevention policy director, said wind power involves a great deal of irregular maintenance work on aging equipment. "It is important to conduct a risk assessment before work to identify hazards and to follow the safety rules," she said. "I hope this material is widely used in the field."