Participants who represented a broad cross section of IMCA Members, vessel owners, wind farm operators, regulators, suppliers and industry stakeholders who are active in the offshore renewable energy industry, recognised there was already a good level of collaboration and as such there had been less duplication of guidance and standards.

With the aim of sharing good practice and lessons identified across sectors the participants agreed future and effective collaboration and understanding needs to be cognitive of:

• Facilitating frictionless transfer of skills and services between sectors and operations by:
  • Mutual recognition of existing standards and guidance
  • Avoiding the duplication of new standards and guidance
  • Good collaboration to reduce duplication of effort
• Guidance and standards must be goal setting in approach
  
  • Standards are necessary to allow industry to measure itself against a common level however they should not stifle innovation by being overly prescriptive in nature
  • A degree of standardisation in design has the potential to improve market access and reduce costs
• Good health, safety and wellbeing performance and culture is a cost reduction measure
• Positive client contractor relationships are key to the safe and efficient completion of a project

Agreeing a way forward
A significant outcome from the roundtable is that the participants all recognised the vital importance of common values, cross sector collaboration, and knowledge sharing and actively commit to working in collaboration for the ever greater synergy of good working practice and mutual recognition of standards in the offshore renewable energy sector.