Health & Safety
The wind energy industry has experienced rapid growth. Ensuring worker health and safety is a challenge that any industry faces. Reflecting the industry as a whole, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) values the industry's workers and is committed to promoting worker safety and health initiatives. Ensuring worker safety and health on all wind job sites is of paramount importance to the industry.
As a result of the priority AWEA has placed on safety and health, AWEA engages with several federal agencies - such as the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Center for Disease Control's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and other agencies - on a variety of issues on a regular basis.
AWEA supports continuous education and training of employers and employees in the wind industry, ultimately resulting in improved worker safety and health. Ensuring that workers and their supervisors understand the hazards present on all job sites is an essential element to any safety and health management system. This will empower all employees to be engaged and take ownership in their worker safety and health programs. In addition, AWEA is committed to educating stakeholders, such as OSHA and NIOSH, on worker safety and health initiatives within the industry. Educating regulating agencies on the intricacies of the development and sustainability of wind generation plants is a role that AWEA sees as extremely important.
