Human Factors in Onshore and Offshore Wind: A Scoping Review

 Human Factors Driving Wind Technician Safety & Performance

Background: A safe, healthy, and competent workforce is critical to the continued growth of the wind energy sector and the achievement of global climate and energy goals. Wind technicians perform essential operations and maintenance activities on wind turbines, often in remote, physically demanding, and high-risk environments across both onshore and offshore sites. While industry incident data continue to highlight safety challenges associated with these activities, research examining the human factors that contribute to safety outcomes remains limited.

Research Gap: Existing studies in the wind sector have largely focused on technical design and physiological considerations, despite evidence that behavioural, psychological, and organisational factors play a significant role in incident occurrence and operational performance.

Current Study: To address this gap, this project conducted a comprehensive scoping review of the literature to identify the key human factors influencing wind technician safety, health, and performance. The review identified 13 peer-reviewed research articles and 8 sources from the grey literature examining human factors within the wind industry.

Drawing on these findings, a preliminary human factors framework was developed, encompassing four interconnected domains:

• Individual factors (e.g., situation awareness and decision-making)
• Crew and team factors (e.g., communication and teamwork)
• Organisational factors (e.g., safety culture, leadership, and management systems)
• Task and environmental factors (e.g., workload, equipment, and operational conditions)

This framework provides a foundation for future research and offers practical guidance for industry stakeholders seeking to develop evidence-based interventions that enhance worker safety, health, and performance across the wind energy sector. Download a free copy here.