LTC wants to be at center for wind tower rescue training

Jenny Heinzen (left) poses high above the ground with a student from the Wind Energy Technician program at Lakeshore Technical College.

From a Gannet news article posted on Wisinfo.com:

CLEVELAND — Hand over hand, Jennifer Heinzen quickly scampered up the lattice steps of Lakeshore Technical College's 110-foot-tall "small" wind tower Wednesday afternoon.

"I have muscles I never thought I had before," said Heinzen, LTC's lead instructor of its Wind Energy Technology course, on day eight of a 10-day "Wind Turbine Access & Rescue" training program.

Performing maintenance and repairs on "utility scale" wind towers and turbines rising more than 300 feet in the air, including blades, is high-risk work Heinzen said.

LTC had three graduates complete its two-year certification program in May, with 20 set to enter a growing wind energy work force in 2010. September enrollment is full with 18 students ready to take classes and more on a waiting list.

"We don't want any of them to be cowboys up there," Heinzen. "They should never climb alone and always be in constant communication with their partner."

Exhaustion can be a primary cause of a wind tower worker getting into trouble, said Rob Siegel, an instructor with Waukesha-based ENSA Access and Rescue.

"They work long hours, often 12 hours a day, climbing 300 feet three or four times," said Siegel.

Workers go through pre-employment climb testing, to ascertain fitness level, but extreme heat or cold at the wind farm can lead to hypothermia or dehydration. High winds can buffet the tower, creating unstable working conditions.

Siegel said no towers have internal elevators though some have a rope and pulley motorized system that simulates taking about 80 pounds off a climber's weight as he ascends step-by-step.

He said wind tower workers may be performing greasy work doing oil changes and replacing hoses and fittings on turbines 100 yards up in the air at the top of "tube towers."

Siegel said workers can slip and bounce into the walls of the tower that are approximately 12 feet in diameter at the base and six feet at the top.

Wednesday afternoon, Siegel continued to reinforce safety measures with Heinzen and EMS instructor Ryan Skabroud as part of the "train the trainer" contract ENSA has signed with LTC.

Heinzen said she has climbed LTC's tower scores of times with no fears.

A combination of heavy-duty clips is part of a "vertical fall arrest" system, including a steel cable that runs from ground to tower top.

But it is still crucial to know how to help a buddy who has gotten into trouble, maybe has even gotten upside down. Consciousness can be lost in less than 15 minutes.