Are Canada’s safety professionals ready for renewables?

Canada is advancing rapidly toward a low-carbon energy economy. With more than $200 billion in renewable energy investment projected by 2035, provinces are accelerating wind, solar, battery storage and grid modernization projects to meet rising electricity demand and climate commitments. While this transformation represents an impressive environmental and economic shift, it also introduces profound occupational health and safety (OHS) challenges.

The pace of deployment is unprecedented; we are moving rapidly toward these goals. From an OHS perspective, a central question emerges: are hazard identification, risk controls and emergency response capabilities evolving at the same rate as infrastructure investment?

Unlike oil and gas, mining or construction, renewable energy in Canada does not benefit from a long-established, sector-specific occupational health and safety framework. Instead, many organizations are adapting standards and practices from other countries and industries. While these efforts provide a foundation, they do not always reflect the distinct risk profile of utility-scale wind farms, battery energy storage systems (BESS), or remote solar installations in Canada’s climate. Applying approaches that only partially align with the hazard environment leaves critical gaps in risk mitigation, hazard prevention and emergency response.

Battery energy storage systems: Are we actually prepared for large-scale lithium-ion events?

Thermal runaway events can escalate rapidly, producing intense heat, toxic off-gassing, re-ignition potential, and prolonged fire duration. Unlike conventional fire scenarios, thermal runaway is a self-sustaining chemical chain reaction that generates its own heat and fuel, fundamentally altering fire behaviour and response requirements.

Lithium battery incidents are distinct enough that industry stakeholders are increasingly treating them as a separate hazard category, often informally referred to as “Class L” fires. While not formally recognized within Canadian or National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) fire classifications, this emerging terminology highlights a critical limitation in traditional frameworks, which do not adequately address the unique behaviour of lithium-ion systems.

This distinction is not merely semantic; it directly influences suppression strategy, emergency planning, and responder safety.

We now need to ask: are nearby fire response services fully aware of these hazards, and are they prepared to manage them?

More importantly, do organizations deploying these systems possess the necessary knowledge, training, and resources to support a coordinated and effective response?

Wind energy: Complex risk 100 metres above ground

Wind energy is expanding rapidly across Canada, including in the Atlantic provinces where new development is accelerating with projects such as the first offshore wind development in Nova Scotia, known as Wind West. Public perception often frames wind power as clean, modern and low impact. For technicians, the risk environment is far more complex.

Work is performed at heights often exceeding 100 metres, within confined nacelles, in variable and often severe weather conditions. Tasks involve high-voltage systems, hydraulic components, rotating machinery and rescue constraints in remote or offshore locations.

From an OHS perspective, this is not merely “working at heights.” It is a high-angle, electrically energized, mechanically dynamic confined space environment, frequently far beyond immediate emergency services. It is, in practical terms, a confined space at heights, highly energized, mechanically complex, and often located far from immediate emergency response. A large portion of OHS professionals would agree that this constitutes a significant risk profile.

Many fall protection programs in Canada are rooted in construction scenarios. While these provide a regulatory baseline, they don’t address turbine-specific rescue systems, self-evacuation devices, nacelle access constraints or offshore response logistics.

OHS professionals supporting wind projects must understand the unique hazard profile firsthand. Most critical tasks occur at elevation, beyond ground-level observation. OHS professionals must engage with turbine structures where this work is performed.

This prompts a critical consideration: are OHS professionals equipped with knowledge, understanding and ability to guide these projects safely and effectively?

The professional obligation to evolve

Canada’s clean energy expansion presents extraordinary opportunity. It also demands intellectual humility and professional rigour from those responsible for protecting workers and communities.

Occupational health and safety practitioners cannot rely on partial analogies to other sectors. The renewable energy landscape introduces unique hazard profiles that must be fully understood. Assumed competence is not sufficient.

The sector is expanding rapidly. Workforce growth is accelerating. Capital investment is increasing. Expectations for reliability and sustainability are high. Effective OHS oversight is therefore not optional – it is foundational to public trust and long-term project viability.

For OHS professionals working within renewable energy:

Develop technical literacy in battery storage systems, high-voltage infrastructure, and turbine operations.
Engage directly with the work environment rather than relying solely on documentation.
Strengthen collaboration with engineering, emergency services, and regulatory authorities.
Advocate for scenario-based training aligned with realistic operational conditions.
Challenge assumptions that traditional construction or industrial programs fully address renewable energy risks.

Canada’s energy transition is both an environmental commitment and an occupational safety test. As investment accelerates, so must competence. Sustainability is not achieved solely through clean generation. It is achieved when innovation is matched by rigorous, informed and adaptive safety leadership.