The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) was recently announced the winner of the 2022 OSJ Safety Award which recognised the association’s “outstanding work” in standardising the use of offshore Walk to Work (W2W) systems. This technology has become the norm for use in the offshore wind energy market and is of growing importance in the oil and gas market.
IMCA’s Technical Adviser – Marine, Richard Purser and Maarten de Wit of Amplemann, a member of IMCA’s Marien Renewable Energy Committee, received the award at OSJ’s gala dinner in London.
As Mark Ford, IMCA’s Marine and Quality Manager, noted:
“Guidelines for Walk to Work Operations (IMCA M254) gathers the collective expertise of operators, contractors, and manufacturers for managing the safe access of personnel between vessels and offshore structures. It epitomises the golden thread of safety that runs through all that IMCA does. Special thanks go to our Marine Renewable Energy Committee and the expert workgroup involved in developing this important piece of work.”
The guidelines include nine sections covering walk to work motion compensated gangway operations for the offshore energy industry. The document advises on choosing the appropriate vessel and gangway as well as operational planning which includes gangway maintenance and ensuring the competence of key personnel. The guidelines also cover emergency preparedness including details on the IMCA incident reporting scheme and how to contribute lessons learned.
The six appendices cover emergency protocols, a framework for hazard identification, training and experience requirements, a safety report template, an induction curriculum, and guidelines covering workability analysis.
