New Chair to guide SafetyOn’s growing work
16/12/2021
SafetyOn, the health and safety organisation for the UK onshore wind sector, has today announced Don Mackay as its new Chair.
As Chief Technical Officer at EDF Renewables UK, Don brings a wealth of experience from his current role supporting project activities and operations for EDF Renewables’s wind, solar, storage and hydrogen activities.
A SafetyOn founding board member, Don will steer the organisation’s work around incident data reporting, good practice guidance and industry workshops, all helping to improve the health and safety of onshore workers in the UK.
Don takes over as Chair from Lindsay McQuade, CEO of ScottishPower Renewables, who has chaired SafetyOn since its inception in 2019.
Dr Nick Wayth FEI, Chief Executive of the Energy Institute which works in partnership with SafetyOn, commented:
“Building on the first annual incident data set published in July, SafetyOn’s important work continues by helping industry to better understand where incidents and injuries occur and, more crucially, how best to mitigate them happening again.
“As a board member since the organisation’s inception, SafetyOn is in good hands with Don guiding the way.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank outgoing Chair Lindsay McQuade for the steadfast commitment and exemplary leadership she has shown. Under Lindsay’s guidance, SafetyOn has quickly and firmly established itself as the leading authority on health and safety issues for the UK onshore wind community.”
Don Mackay said:
“SafetyOn exemplifies the best of the industry coming together to share best practice in our collective goal of making our dynamic and growing industry safer.
“I’m proud to take on the role of Chair and look forward to steering the future work programme of SafetyOn, ensuring it is relevant, and helping members to embed its critical work into their own activities.”
In 2021, SafetyOn released its inaugural Incident Data Report, benchmarking the health and safety performance of the UK onshore wind industry for the first time and providing transparency on the industry’s safety performance.
During the pandemic to aid safe industry operations, SafetyOn produced 14 versions of their “site operations, construction and return to the office environment” guidance. Used by counterpart organisations internationally in regions such as Australia and America, SafetyOn received the Positive Improvement Award at Scottish Green Awards in recognition of this guidance.
SafetyOn comprises of 19 Tier 1 members – Banks Renewables, Deutsche Windtechnik, EDF Renewables, Enercon, Falck Renewables, Fred. Olsen Renewables, GE Renewable Energy, Natural Power, Nordex Group, RenewableUK, RES, RWE, ScottishPower Renewables, Siemens Gamesa, SSE, Statkraft, Vattenfall, Ventient Energy and Vestas – as well as 43 Tier 2 members. Membership comprises of developers, operators, manufacturers and the wider supply chain, including engineering and transportation organisations.
Notes for editors
- For media enquiries and journalist accreditation, contact Neil Michie on 020 7467 7132 or nmichie@energyinst.org
- SafetyOn is the health and safety organisation for the Onshore wind sector.
Providing leadership in health and safety for the dynamic and innovative onshore wind industry, we ensure transparency about the industry’s health and safety performance, as well as assisting industry stakeholders to see that key emerging risks are mitigated through cooperation and shared learning.
Working through the Energy Institute we have established an open network of safety and health experts, professionals and stakeholders to promote a strong, sustainable and continually improving health and safety culture.
Thousands are employed in the UK’s onshore wind industry, and SafetyOn is playing a part in making sure they go home safe. - The Energy Institute (EI) is the chartered professional membership body bringing global energy expertise together.
We gather and share essential knowledge about energy, provide the skills that are helping us all use it more wisely, and develop the good practice needed to keep it safe and secure.
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