47 The Messenger 137  September 2009 Astronomical News Health, Safety and Performance in High Altitude Observatories: A Sustainable Approach Michael Bcker 1 Joachim Vogt 2 Oliver Christ 2 Alice Müller-Leonhardt 2 1 ESO 2 Technische Universitt Darmstadt, Germany The research project Optimising Per- formance, Health and Safety in High Altitude Observatories was initiated by ESO to establish an approach to pro- mote the well-being of staff working at its high altitude observatories, and in particular at the Antiplano de Chajnan- tor. A survey by a questionnaire given to both workers and visitors was em- ployed to assess the effects of working conditions at high altitude. Earlier arti- cles have outlined the project and re- SRUWHG HDUO\ UHVXOWV 7KH :QDO UHVXOWV and conclusions are presented, together with a concept for sustainable devel- opment to improve the performance, health and safety at high altitude em- ploying Critical Incident Stress Manage- ment. Innovative ground-based submillimetre astronomical observatories like the Ata- cama Large Millimeter/submillimeter QQ@X +, @MC SGD S@B@L@ /@SGjMCDQ EXperiment (APEX) take advantage of the very low natural levels of atmospheric water vapour at very high altitude sites to attain high sensitivity in the submillimetre wavelength range. As these and other similar ground-based facilities come into operation, more people will be exposed to high altitude conditions. The research project Optimising Per- formance, Health and Safety in High Alti- tude Observatories was initiated by ESO from an organisational psychology per- spective to establish a sustainable devel- opment programme for the well-being of its staff in special environments. The major objective is to consider the effects of high altitude on those people who VHKK AD QDPTHQDC SN VNQJ @ANUD  L altitude at Llano de Chajnantor, the site of +, @MC /$7 3GD jM@K FN@K NE SGD project is to acquire and promote knowl- DCFD HM SGD jDKC NE GTL@M @BSHUHSX @S GHFG altitude observatories, which then will be utilised to help in planning observatory operations. (M @CCHSHNM SN SGD RBHDMSHjB BG@KKDMFD ENQ the astronomical community presented by APEX and ALMA, there is the chal- lenge for the executive organisations to S@JD RTEjBHDMS B@QD NE RS@EE @MC DPTHO- ment. This is especially true if sensitive work has to be performed at high altitude (above 3000 m). A good example is the operation of the ALMA transport vehicles: ALMA staff must move the antennas across the Chajnantor Altiplano over dis- tances from 150 metres to 15 kilometres using these specialised transport vehicles (see Kraus et al., 2008). The weight of the antennas (about 100 tons), their deli- cacy and the hostile, high altitude envi- ronment impose severe constraints on the use and functionality of the transport vehicles and the technical equipment in general, as well as on the drivers and supporting staff. Amongst other manoeu- vres, staff have to position the anten- nas to an accuracy of a few millimetres or move the antennas slowly for mainte- nance and repair from the Array Opera- tions Site (AOS) at 5050 m altitude to the Operations Support Facilities (OSF) at  L UH@ @ LDSQD VHCD @MC  JHKN- metre-long road  a 3 to 5 hour drive at 8 km/h. While a great deal of knowledge has been acquired about the biomedical changes at high altitude and under low oxygen conditions, there is little knowl- edge available about the psychological BG@MFDR %TQSGDQLNQD SGDQD @QD BNMkHBS- ing results on the effects of high altitude, adding emphasis to the importance of the project. So as to develop an ade- quate preventive health and safety process systematically, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to staff working for ALMA and APEX, or visiting the sites, and 28 questionnaires were returned by visitors and workers. As has already been summarised (Bcker et al., 2008), the results from the question- naire indicated that working conditions at high altitude are better than expected. The visitors/workers reported neither major psychosomatic complaints nor im- pairments in abilities and work behaviour or performance (see Figure 1 for a dia- grammatic summary of the questionnaire results). The participants reported mod- erate to slight limitations with respect to their tasks at low altitude workplaces. Planning and teamwork activities were slightly impaired, while manual and other tasks were moderately impaired. Team- work could have a social activation func- tion, in that it reduces fatigue and atten- tion problems that might be induced by high altitude conditions and travel jet lag. Workers tended to report more limi- tations than visitors, especially for com- plex mental tasks, such as computer programming. Concentration problems, fatigue, reduction of their usual activities, shortness of breath on exertion (see Figure 1) were the complaints reported to occur on average slightly more often. Other complaints that have been re- ported by mountaineers, such as nausea, UNLHSHMF @MC RDUDQD RKDDO CHEjBTKSHDR were not experienced at all by the ESO site workers and visitors. The regular workers generally report slightly more problems at high altitude, ATS QDBDHUDC LNQD ADMDjS EQNL OQD paratory documents/tools than visitors, although these results were not sta- SHRSHB@KKX RHFMHjB@MS 3GD DWODQHDMBD of workers appears to be a good training for effective functioning at high altitude. However, cultural differences (optimism of local staff and workers as opposed to the critical outlook of the visiting scientist) @MC @C@OSHNM SN SGD CHEjBTKS VNQJHMF conditions probably also play a role; for activities involving selective attention (concentration) and technical understand- ing of equipment, the differences were RS@SHRSHB@KKX RHFMHjB@MS 3VN ETMBSHNMR stood out from the questionnaire results as showing a tendency to be impaired at high altitude: perceptual speed and at- tention span (see Figure 2). Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) programmes could consider this result and try to ad- dress perception and attention problems. Workers reported slightly more impair- ment than visitors. High altitude safety and health issues were generally considered seriously by visitors and also by the local and inter- national staff working at the site. Serious incidents could result if individuals are unprepared for high altitude activities and in cases where the standard preparation procedures are not followed for whatever