The current medical fitness standard guidelines issued by Renewable UK for wind turbine technicians were adopted from the UK Fire and Rescue service. However, on the face of it, the two industries have different demands. This thesis aimed to ascertain the day-to-day nature of the role of a wind turbine technician - specifically, it aimed to understand the effect of external loads on vertical ladder ergometer climbing, the effect of a climb assist device and the effect of space restriction on ladder climbing. A further aim was to understand the difference between climbing a pitched and vertical ladder ergometer. Using an online survey, it was found that 50% of respondents climbed wind turbines on four, five or six days per week. The median turbine height climbed was 36 m whilst carrying external loads up to 15 kg. Finally, of the specific wind turbines involved, only 25% contained climb assist devices. This thesis ascertained that vertical ladder ergometer climbing was significantly (p 0.05) change in the horizontal space required for climbing when a space constraint was applied to participants (0.88 m, 1.03 m or 1.23 m). This thesis found that, depending on the speed and/or the presence of an external load, the intensity of vertical ladder ergometer climbing exceeds that of the medical fitness guidelines. This thesis therefore proposes that future work should re-examine the medical fitness standard - the research also highlights that more studies are needed in order to create an evidence base from which to design a bespoke industry fitness standard
