GEP – VESTAS HELLAS: 12 Years of Cooperation

GEP’s partnership with Vestas Hellas, dating from 2008 and counting on its countless everyday – small and big – successes in managing the Health and Safety of employees and everybody involved in Wind Farms.

With satisfaction and pride, the two companies are talking about a successful 12-year cooperation. In particular, Charalampos Monogyios, GEP’s Construction and Industrial Manager and Manoussos Nikias, Coordinator of Vestas Hellas Health, Safety and Environment Department, point out the ultimate goal of their co-operation, which is zero accidents.

As the global effort to tackle climate change grows year by year, the renewable energy industry – and most notably the wind energy sector – is growing rapidly both in our country and at European level.

With more and more employees working on various aspects of the wind energy sector, employee’s Health and Safety is a top priority for Vestas, the world leader in wind turbine production. A trusted and exclusive partner of the European colossus in Greece is GEP, which with the expertise of its people in wind farms and with GWO certified and targeted trainings, responds with “vital” results to the demanding goals of Vestas Hellas in order to safeguard the health and safety of its employees

“As in all Energy Sectors, the Wind Energy Industry is filled with challenges and extreme weather phenomena, such as snow, lightning, strong winds, etc.”

“From construction to transportation, installation and maintenance of wind parks, Occupational Health and Safety risks occur at every step of the process. The requirements for implementing Health and Safety Best Practices, but also continuing employee trainings in Wind Parks are becoming more and more urgent, as data on wind turbine manufacturing change and their geometrical characteristics grow.

Critical elements for safeguarding health and safety in wind farms, regardless of the prevailing conditions, are on the one hand the support of these large projects by specialized, experienced and trained safety officers and coordinators, and on the other hand the certified trainings of all employees involved in each project, so that they have the knowledge and skills needed to protect themselves and their partners. With Vestas we have an excellent multi-year partnership, which – mainly – is due to the quality of our communication and our shared vision of the absolute protection of human life. ”

Zero Accident Target is not negotiated for Vestas Hellas. Priorities in collaboration with GEP were set from the very beginning. People and their protection is the ultimate priority.

“Safety is the top priority for all of us here in Vestas. We are working systematically to create the mindset to all of us in order to manage safety proactively, with the ultimate goal of zeroing out accidents. To achieve this goal, every organization needs time to pass – and through appropriate processes – transform its perception of safety. Over the last four years, the pace of construction and commissioning of wind farms has been increasing. At the same time, there is a growing need for hiring more people and the challenge for Vestas is twofold, on the one hand to maintain and improve the safe working environment for everybody involved (Vestas staff and contractors), and on the other, to blow the culture of security to new staff.

Guides to achieve these goals are both Vestas management’s commitment to providing a safe work environment, as well as the selection of specialized partners like GEP », Manousos Nikias, Vestas Hellas Health & Safety Coordinator mentioned.

 Education and Development of Safety Culture

At the moment, wind farms are being built in Kozani, Evia and Alexandroupolis. There, GEP’s dedicated staff ensures that all work is carried out safely and that, at the same time, the Health and Safety culture is cultivated in every person involved. It is noteworthy that Vestas staff, as well as specialized safety officers and coordinators, were trained and certified by the GWO at GEP’s new training center in its new premises. Topics in which employees were trained and certified were First Aid (FA), Manual Handling (MH), Fire Handling (FA) and Work at Height (WAH). The purpose of the GWO training is to provide theoretical and practical training by simulating the wind turbine environment in safe conditions so that the wind energy sector is a safe and sustainable field of work.

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