Helideck nets safety standards

Safety standards already govern the majority of offshore safety equipment. For the perimeter safety nets used on helidecks, there are a great variety of standards in different markets, from professional regulations to virtually non-existent recommendations

“Fulfilling standards is not enough. Instead, we should always look at real-life safety needs.”

From Sinking Life Buoys to True Safety

A recent finding in Trelleborg, Sweden, paints a gloomy picture of how safe is safe. A routine check revealed that several Swedish passenger ferries carried life buoys that did not float. Instead, they soaked up water and sunk.

Surprisingly, the defect life buoys had been approved as meeting the European safety standards, arguably not among the weakest in the world.

Looking at this striking shortcoming as a manufacturer of safety equipment, there is only one conclusion to be made: Fulfilling standards is not enough. Instead, we should always look at real-life safety needs.

Both nets meet the standards and passes conventional drop tests, but its clear that right one will not do so long

Test jump, anyone?

In offshore structures, safety is always an issue. Whether it's about running the daily routines, planning maintenance operations, or organizing transport, there are risks that need to be minimized.

Even today, many territories accept helideck perimeter nets that are tested by dropping sand bags into the nets. The belief is that this concludes whether the net holds or not. Unfortunately, drop tests will not reveal whether the net holds a weight any heavier than the bag, or even the same bag again.

It's hard to imagine anyone volunteering to do a test-jump into the corroded or ragged perimeter nets, even if they have just been drop tested.

Resisting abrasion with new materials

Over 500 Frictape nettings have been installed on helidecks across the world. Frictape customers include BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Statoil, among others

Safety of helideck perimeter nets is determined by design, material and installment method. In offshore conditions, the nets need to survive a combination of sun, rain, ice, salt water and guano.

Safety nettings of poor design or made of poor materials may well comply with regulations at start, but fall below their specifications surprisingly quickly. Due to the inadequate testing while in use, deterioration often goes unnoticed.

Frequent renewal of safety nettings is arguably the best way to uphold safety. However, offshore installation projects tend to be difficult and expensive. As the cost of installation often exceeds the cost of equipment, there is often a temptation to wait for another year, maybe two.

Based on more than a decade of research and development of helideck safety nets, we have proven that the typical lifespan of just 1-2 years can be extended to up to 9-10 years by using high quality materials and careful design.

Improved testing is a must

In order to ensure offshore personnel that their work environment has been made as safe as possible regardless of where in the world they operate, more stringent and more widely adopted standards are strongly called for.

I have been delighted to note that there are efforts ongoing to improve standards and harmonize the requirements across territories. The pioneering work done by the North Sea authorities will hopefully lead to similar actions in other regions.

In safety nettings, the key to long-term safety is balanced structure and strength. Nettings should keep their form and structure, and the installation method should ensure correct operation. A crucial part of upholding the safety of helideck nettings is to regularly test the materials for remaining strength.

A testing method used in North Sea for some years already is to include extra straps in the nettings. Test straps can be then detached in regular intervals and sent to labs. Results tell the exact current strength of the material, and comparing them with long-term field testing data and textile engineering theory enables the estimation of the net's remaining lifetime.

There are talks about safety products that can simply be installed and forgotten. In my opinion, saying something like that is outright irresponsible.

The unique material used in Frictape helideck nets far outperforms traditional rope and steel mesh structures, providing an optimal combination of strength, durability and lightness. Frictape helideck nettings feature a completely balanced zero-deformation, zero-bounce structure for increased safety.

Frictape helideck perimeter safety nets far exceed the strength required by industry standards. For example Frictape safety nets have been tested to exceed a pullthrough force over 6000 kg.

Custom-made for exact fit and failsafety, Frictape nets are directly attached to the helideck structure with fail-safe braiding using the same material, resulting in completely balanced strength. Frictape nets produce a perfect hammock effect, absorbing the kinetic energy of falling objects or persons and staying fit for purpose throughout its lifetime.