August 12, 2010
Australia

Safety checks after blades blow in the wind

ABC Hobart, www.abc.net.au 12 August 2010

Tasmania’s workplace safety authority is seeking guarantees yesterday’s wind turbine failure in central Hobart will not happen again.

Less than a month after installation, wind turbines on Hobart’s Marine Board building were shut down yesterday after they started spinning out of control in strong winds.

Police closed streets surrounding the building amid concerns the blades were coming loose.

A spokesman for the company which installed the turbines, Rob Manson, says the incident was caused by a brake failure and there was no threat to public safety.

Roy Ormerod from Workplace Standards says some questions need to be answered.

“We’ll be in contact with the building owners and we’ll be asking them for information on what caused the failure,” he said.

Mr Manson says the company will conduct an internal investigation.

Hobart alderman Darlene Haigh says wind turbines should never have been erected in the city centre.

Alderman Haigh opposed their installation on heritage and public safety grounds

She says concerns were raised on an environmental website.

“[It] said that they were safe out further from the city but not where there was high populations of people nearby because of the possibility of a blade dislodging and I do recall at the time that a lot of people thought I was quite mad,” Alderman Haigh said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2010/08/12/safety-checks-after-blades-blow-in-the-wind/