GEV Group has launched its bespoke 1st4Safety initiative; the latest development for the business following the opening of its US office and multiple tender wins. This builds on an already exemplary Health and Safety record, established over almost a decade of working in the harshest of environments such as Oil and Gas and Offshore Wind.

With four subdivisions (GEV Wind Power, GEV Offshore, Oxifree UK and Subsea Masters), GEV offers a range of services and innovation to the energy sector. Since the company’s inception in 2008, GEV Group has accumulated over 650,000 working hours without a lost working time incident (LTI). During this time there have been so few ‘minor injuries’ that the GEV Group injury rate is less than one per 100,000 working hours.

The 1st4Safety initiative, certified in compliance with OHSAS 18001, promotes continuous assessment, monitoring and improvement of critical processes. It will contribute to ensuring the GEV Group teams are engaged to take care of themselves, their colleagues and employees of fellow organisations.

GEV will implement 1st4Safety across all of its divisions, providing each member of the workforce with the skills, awareness, training and equipment to carry out their duties to the highest possible safety standards.

To support the implementation of 1st4Saftey, Barry Yates has joined the team as GEV Group QHSE Manager, bringing 13 years of experience in quality management in the oil, gas and automotive industries to the business.

GEV Group, Managing Director, David Fletcher comments: “1st4Safety is a great investment for us; it highlights our continued professionalism in the industry and places us amongst the very best in this field.”

The 1st4safety launch comes hot on the heels of the news that GEV Offshore secured BSI ISO 9001 and 14001 certification for a further three years. BSI conducted a strategic review to ensure the company’s entire management system has been fully and satisfactorily implemented over the past three-year certification period and found GEV Offshore had remained compliant throughout.

GEVs biggest division, GEV Wind Power, is at the forefront of the wind power industry. Since entering the renewables market in 2012, it has recorded blade maintenance work on over 4GW of installed capacity, equating to more than 1,200 wind turbines across Europe, Asia and the USA. GEV’s client base includes Europe’s Top 5 wind turbine manufacturers and the industry’s leading wind farm operators.

Recent tender award wins with three of the top 5 Owner Operators in Europe mean that GEV has secured a further 1.8GW of maintenance contracts in the first half of 2016 alone and with expansion into the US market, GEV is on schedule to achieve a total 15GW of maintained capacity before 2020.

“Continual development of the workforce is key to the ongoing growth and success of GEV Group and 1st4Safety will ensure GEV Group continues to lead the way in maintenance, not only for wind power operations but for the energy sector as a whole,” says David.