About:
Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) appointed BlueWise Marine to undertake a gap analysis of Ireland’s Offshore Wind Health and Safety legal framework. The BlueWise Marine team adopted the “Offshore Wind and Marine Energy Health and Safety Guidelines 2014: Issue 2” developed by Renewables UK as the principal benchmark guidance document for this study. The benchmark framework was chosen due to the similarity between the legal framework foundations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The analysis focused on both the documented requirements and the regulators and national agencies that enforce them. Various sectors within the ORE industry were considered during this study, such as workplace health and safety, maritime and aviation.
Throughout this work the BlueWise Marine team convened several stakeholder engagement workshops and meetings to allow relevant stakeholders the opportunity to review the analysis and provide feedback.
Scope of Work:
- Gap Analysis Report on Ireland’s current Health and Safety Legal Framework and how it relates to Offshore Renewable Energy
- Deliver Stakeholder Engagement Workshops
- Presentation of findings to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Results and Findings:
The analysis concluded that 90% of the reference benchmark legislation and guidelines directly mapped onto Ireland’s current health and safety legal framework. Two gaps and four partial gaps were identified. Overall, this study has shown that the gaps in Ireland’s current health and safety ORE legal framework are minimal, but it has also underlined the need for national guidelines for ORE developers doing business in Ireland.
