GWO training standards implemented in Vestas across North America

Vestas American Wind Technology, Inc., Portland, Oregon, has adopted Global Wind Organisation (GWO) training standards for use across the North American region.

Vestas requires all technicians and sub-contractor technicians in the United States and Canada to maintain GWO certifications across three standards:

• Basic Safety Training (BST) – working at heights, manual handling, fire awareness, and first aid modules
• Basic Technical Training (BTT) – mechanical, electrical, hydraulics, and installation modules
• Advanced Rescue Training (ART) – hub, spinner, and inside blade rescue and nacelle, tower, and basement rescue modules

To date, the Vestas Technical Training Center uploaded more than 8,000 GWO certificates to the GWO WINDA database for nearly 2,000 technicians across the U.S. and Canada.

Training records are created when a GWO standard course is passed and completed by a person. These records are uploaded and stored in the GWO WINDA database, allowing workers to transfer their skills across multiple wind projects, reducing costs and eliminating retraining of basic skills.

“As the pace of growth in the wind industry accelerates, safety remains the top priority for Vestas, and the standardization of training delivers a range of benefits. GWO-trained technicians can be easily verified and onboarded more quickly through the WINDA database, eliminating redundant training. Standardization also expands our network of training providers, allowing refresher training to be conducted at or near our 240-plus service sites,” said Shaun Melander, Vice President of Service, Vestas North America.

In June 2021, Vestas completed the GWO merit assessment process where the company’s existing training programs were evaluated against the GWO standards and, when completed, technicians’ GWO merit certifications were uploaded onto the WINDA database during September 2021.

“The merit process was created for employers in the wind industry who want to migrate their employees' existing training to GWO standards,” explained Jakob Lau Holst, Chief Executive Officer, GWO. “The process provides companies with a way to compare their courses with GWO standards, filling in any gaps and aligning everyone to the same, consistent level.”

Training standards are created by GWO members representing leading wind turbine manufacturers and owner operators. Therefore, standards are created for the industry, by the industry.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the parent company of Vestas American Wind Technology, Inc. and based in Denmark, is a founding member of GWO which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2022.

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