Record year for wind energy safety as GWO Trained Workforce passes 122,000 in 2021

2021 has been another year of successes for GWO and our growing community

Global Wind Organisation (GWO), a non profit body representing the world’s largest wind turbine manufacturers and owner/operators has today published its Annual Report 2021, Building A Global Community of Safety and Training, showing a 21% growth in the size of the GWO Trained Workforce[1], reaching a total of 122,573 people (2020: 100,052).

GWO strives to create an injury free working environment in wind by ensuring workers receive a standardised, basic minimum level of training. The organisation’s long term strategy, Safety without Borders, aims to grow the availability of courses, supported by quality assurance and a growing portfolio of safety and technical training standards fit for use on any platform.

Meanwhile, GWO training, particularly in Asia, North America and South America has been growing faster relative to the rest of the world.

GWO is a non-profit group of wind turbine owners and wind turbine manufacturers, committed to the creation and adoption of standardized safety training and emergency procedures.

Independent training providers deliver GWO-certified training to technicians and students worldwide. There are currently eleven GWO training standards, containing a total of 30 modules. For more information on GWO standards, visit this page.

Training records are created when a GWO standard course is passed and completed by a participant. These records are uploaded and stored in the GWO WINDA database, allowing workers to transfer their skills to new employers, reducing frictional costs and eliminating retraining of basic skills.

[1] The GWO Trained Workforce is a number representing course participants holding at least one valid training record in GWO’s WINDA database.