G+ Lifesaving Rules for Offshore Wind

The ten rules are:

1. Always ensure the required plans and permits are in place before you start a job.
2. Always use tools and equipment that are fit for the intended purpose.
3. Never undertake any job unless you have been trained and assessed as competent.
4. Never work, or operate vehicles or machinery, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
5. Always verify isolation and zero energy before work begins.
6. Always use fall protection when working at height.
7. Always secure tools, loose materials and equipment to prevent them from falling.
8. Never place yourself under a suspended load during lifting.
9. Always adhere to barriers and exclusion zones.
10. Only transfer from a vessel when you are ready, and permission is provided.

They rest on two commitments: Start safe and Stop if unsure.

Who Is G+ and Why These Rules?

G+ is the global health and safety organisation of the offshore wind industry, run in partnership with the Energy Institute. Its members include major developers, operators and manufacturers, among them Ørsted, RWE, Vattenfall, Equinor, Iberdrola, SSE, Vestas and Siemens Energy.

Lifesaving rules (sometimes called "golden rules" or "rules to live by") have been used for years in industries like oil and gas, with proven success in reducing fatal and serious incidents. G+ looked at existing sets and decided offshore wind needed its own, matched to its own risks. Each rule had to pass four tests:

• Does it cover the real risks of offshore wind?
• Does the action prevent a fatal outcome or a most serious injury?
• Can the person doing the work fully control it themselves?
• Is it simple, clear and easy to translate?

The rules apply across the whole life of a wind farm: development, construction, operation and decommissioning. They're written for offshore, but every one of them makes just as much sense onshore.

The Two Commitments Behind the Rules

The rules only work if companies make two promises to their workers:

• Start safe: work doesn't start until every team member can confirm they can follow the lifesaving rules for that task.
• Stop if unsure: everyone is encouraged to stop work and ask for support, without negative consequences, when they're in doubt, when conditions change, or when the job isn't going as expected.

G+ is clear that the rules are not about "break a rule and you're fired". Companies are responsible for creating conditions where the rules can be followed: proper risk assessments, training, emergency plans, permits, isolation systems, fitness-for-duty policies, and effective PPE provided at no cost to the worker. If a rule isn't followed, the first question should be why, and what needs to change so it can be followed next time.

The Rules in Practice

For each rule, G+ provides questions to "ask yourself, your team, your supervisor", in a toolbox talk, a pre-job meeting or just before you start. Here are the key ones.

Working responsibly

1. Always ensure the required plans and permits are in place before you start a job.

• What plans and permits does this job need, and do I understand them?
• Is everything described in them actually in place and working?
• Are today's conditions (weather, visibility, tools) as the plan expects?
• Is anything different from usual today? This matters most for jobs you've done a hundred times.
• How do I stop the job, and how do we leave it in a safe state if we do?

2. Always use tools and equipment that are fit for the intended purpose.

• Do I have all the PPE, tools and equipment I need?
• Are they rated for this task, for example insulated tools for electrical work?
• What do I check when I inspect them?
• Where do faulty tools and PPE go to be inspected, repaired or taken out of service?

3. Never undertake any job unless you have been trained and assessed as competent.

• What competences does this task need?
• I've been trained, but I don't have much experience. What exactly am I competent to do, and what can I do unsupervised?
• When is my refresher due?
• If conditions change, do I know the limits of my competence and when to stop?

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4. Never work, or operate vehicles or machinery, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

• How do over-the-counter or prescription medicines affect me? Some can make you drowsy.
• Am I rested enough, after long shifts, travel and responsibilities at home?

Working with electricity

5. Always verify isolation and zero energy before work begins.

• What are all the energy sources?
• Is the equipment correctly identified in the isolation plan or drawings?
• Who isolates it, and who is responsible for safely re-energising it?
• How do I prove it can't be started, and how do I verify zero energy?

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Working at height

6. Always use fall protection when working at height.

• Could we reach the work without working at height?
• Is my fall protection certified, inspected, rated and fit for this task?
• Is it adjusted correctly to fit me?
• How do I recognise approved anchor points?
• How do I communicate with my team while I'm at height?

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Out of harm's way

7. Always secure tools, loose materials and equipment to prevent them from falling.

• Do we have enough tethers and lanyards for every tool?
• Do we have enough bags and boxes to keep materials at height enclosed?
• How do we mark drop zones and control access below?

8. Never place yourself under a suspended load during lifting.

• What lifting is happening, and are other operations going on at the same time (SIMOPS)?
• How will I know when a lift is happening?
• How do I guide the load without going near it or under it?
• Have we tested our communication, and does everyone understand the signals?

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9. Always adhere to barriers and exclusion zones.

• How do I recognise a barrier or exclusion zone?
• Who can tell me when it's safe to cross?
• Is there another way to get where I'm going?

Transfer operations

10. Only transfer from a vessel when you are ready, and permission is provided.

• How do I know I'm ready? Am I physically able to transfer right now?
• What signals are we using?
• Am I secure? Is my equipment secure? Have I emptied my pockets?
• Do I feel safe to transfer?

The transfer from a CTV to a turbine's boat landing ladder is one of the riskiest moments of an offshore day. Never let anyone rush you into it.

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What This Means for You

• Learn the ten rules by heart. They're short on purpose.
• Use the questions before every job, even routine ones.
• You have the right to stop. If you can't follow a rule, stop the job and tell your supervisor. A good company will listen and fix the conditions.
• Look out for others. If you see a colleague about to break a rule, speak up.
• Report situations where a rule couldn't be followed. That's how the industry learns.

👉 Incident Reporting & Safety Culture

Where to Find the Official Material

G+ publishes the rules, an implementation guide, question cards and a training slide pack, including translations, on its website: gplusoffshorewind.com. The rules build on the earlier IOGP Life-Saving Rules from oil and gas, which many people coming from that industry will already know.

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Source: G+ Global Offshore Wind Health and Safety Organisation / Energy Institute, Lifesaving Rules for the Offshore Wind Industry: Implementation Guide (September 2024), plus the G+ question cards and slide pack. Always follow your employer's procedures and site rules.