The Impact and Implementation of Quality, Health, and Safety in an Onshore or Offshore Energy Generation - Research Proposal Example

School of Engineering and the Built Environment ele11108 PhD Project DRAFT PROPOSAL OkomChukwuweike Abel Matriculation Number 40093859Project Title THE IMPACT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY, HEALTH AND SAFETY IN AN ONSHORE / OFFSHORE ENERGY GENERATION Summary of work to be undertaken during project Summary The study project will investigate the impact and implementation of quality, health and safety in an offshore/onshore energy generation site. The researcher will also assess the impact of the same in the production of energy by the use of biomass and solar production. This assessement will be helpful for comparison purposes. In the study, the researcher will use a desk based method in collecting data for the study where an exclusion and inclusion criteria will be used. Furthermore, the rsearcher will source secondary data from peer reviewed journals. In the proposal, the researcher will assess the main areas of the study by tackling the operationalization of the entire research project. Study Objectives The main objective of the study is to investigate the impact and implementation of quality, health and safety in an offshore / onshore energy generation site. The other objectives of the study are listed below; 1. To investigate the main hazards associated with onshore/offshore power generation 2. To establish the prevalence of injuries and health concerns in onshore/offshore energy generation 3. To find out the measures being taken by key player in preventing hazards, injury and harm to workers. 4. To understand the main cause(s) of risk(s) and hazard(s) in onshore/offshore generation 5. To investigate the possible challenges associated with implementing quality, health and safety in onshore/offshore sites 6. Also to properly harnessed the impact of quality in engineering,procurement and constructions in an onshore/offshore site. . Deliverables Consider the academic challenges that you will face and what solutions you proposed to deliver as part of the project and consider what will make the project a success. There should be no more than 5. [N.B. Approved deliverableswill be compared with your final report.] Deliverables In carrying out the research, the researcher may encounter a number of challenges. For instance, there is little data on the topic. This is because the area of renewable energy is relatively new, with major focus on the use of fossil fuels in the production of electricity. Secondly, majority of the companies in the production of onshore and offshore energy may not be willing to share data on the topic with the researcher in a bid to maintain the a positive image of their company. Lastly, the researcher may not cover all areas of the research due to such fieldwork challenges as minimal participation of respondents, financial constraits, and little time for the entire study. To tackle the various challenges, the researcher will conduct the research in an objective manner and will treat all participants with anonymity to ensure that no personal data will be recorded in the final report of the study. The researcher will also encouragepropspective participants to take part in the study and source extra funds to ensure the success of the research. Finally, the researcher will use the allocatd time of study well and ensure that majority of areas are covered within the stipulated time-frame. Research Problem Even though energy harnessed from wind is considered “green” by being good for the environment, it is not necessarily good in regards to the safety and health of workers (SGS, 2014). Workers in wind energy generation plants are constantly exposed to several hazards that may result in serious fatalities and injuries. The risks lie in nearly all phases of a project in a wind farm. The working environment for personnel in an offshore site differs greatly from that of an onshore site. For instance, working in a marine environment presents tasks such as working with a boat in the water and even under water operations such as diving. Moreover, harsh oceanic weather conditions that are constantly changing increases the risks to the safety of workers during the installation, assembly or maintenance of wind farms. In onshore installations, workers face safety challenges such as falling from heights, and extreme challenges in accessing remote and difficult-to-reach sites due to steep terrains, vegetation and extreme weather conditions. Accidents in wind farms are also a challenge and a concern. With the aforementioned challenges and problems, the researcher found it necessary to investigate the impact and implementation of quality, health and safety in an onshore or offshore energy generation site. Context and Rationale According to Brun&Suarez (2013), the sector of wind energy is relatively new and growing with constant progression on the technology used in the design of towers, rotor blades, nacelles and hubs. The progression in technology has resulted to reduced costs for the installation of wind turbines. Subsequently, the adoption of wind energy production is gaining increasing popularity due to the reducing costs and renewable energy alternative provided by wind (Lynn, 2012). In the past years, however, there has been an increasing trend in the number and incidents of accidents which occur in the wind sector in both onshore and offshore sites. Podger (2006),also notes that there have been injuries to individuals who are not directly related to wind production such as transport workers, and emergency personnel such as firefighters and paramedics. It is due to such challenges and upward trend in the cases of fatality and injury on offshore and onshore sights that the researcher justifies a study in investigating the impact and implementation of quality, health and safety standards in offshore and onshore sites of energy generation. Resources required to enable you to successfully complete the project Resources Some of the resources that the researcher may require in the study include financial resources, research asssistants and data analysis software. All the needed resources are within the researcher’s reach. Research Questions From the study objectives, the following research questions were formulated; 1. What are the main hazards associated with onshore/offshore power generation? 2. What is the prevalence rate of injuries and health concerns in onshore/offshore energy generation? 3. What are the measures being taken by key player in preventing hazards, injury and harm to workers? 4. What are the main cause(s) of risk(s) and hazard(s) in onshore/offshore generation? 5. What are the possible challenges associated with implementing quality, health and safety in onshore/offshore sites? Research Methodologies In carrying out the research study, the researcher plans to use a desk-based method in sourcing the needed data and report for the report. As such, an inclusion and exclusion criteria seems to be useful in helping the researcher to determine the data to be used in the study. For information to be included/considered, the information needs to be specifically related to the quality of construction and implementation of some special code, safety and health of workers based on specifications and policies within onshore/offshore sites. The information needs to be recent and published within the last 10 years. Peer reviewed journals will be used as the main source of secondary data with reports from governments and non-governmental organizations, newspapers and books being used to supplement the data needed for the study. Based on the shortage of papers, which specifically refer to the health and safety concerns of workers in onshore/offshore energy generation sites, the researcher decided to use personal discretion on what document to exclude or include when writing the final report of the study. Thus, any data that will not be perceived as being robust by the researcher will not be included in the final report of the study. Finally, before conducting the actual study, the researcher will carry out a pre-study/pilot study to test the tools of data collection. Necessary amendments to the questionnaire and interview script will be made after the pilots study to refine the same in preparation for the actual research study Proposed Supervisor (To be completed by Module Leader) Ken goh Second Supervisor (To be completed by Module Leader) Read More