A risk assessment tool for improving safety standards and emergency management in Italian onshore wind farms

Abstract The renewable energy sector has seen a rapid expansion in recent years and the number of green jobs is quickly increasing. The development of wind sector, associated with a strong focus on innovation, has given importance to the assessment of new and emerging hazards and risks for ensuring adequate, safe and healthy working conditions. The main aim of this paper is to provide a tool for improving proactive safety standards in onshore wind farms. The emergency management was outlined integrating some pinpointed indicators identified by wind turbines owners and manufacturers in a simple and practical instrument (risk assessment tool) aimed to facilitate emergency responses in case of accidents. The idea was to develop a systematic pattern that allows the employers and those responsible for the plant prevention to better manage an emergency event based on a risk assessment in an onshore wind farm during the operation stage. Specifically, the tool was tested and used to classify the risk level for occupational safety in 56 Italian onshore wind farms. The results obtained provide an overview of the crucial factors for optimizing the emergency management process in onshore wind farms at national level.