Safety

Various protections were added to machines in the mechanical workshop to comply with the requirements to obtain CE certificates as indicated by the licensed company that checks our installations. The grinding machine was replaced as it was cheaper to replace it than add the extra protections. We are currently waiting for the additions to be inspected by the company. Also some improvements were made to the electrical installation and some illuminated safety signs were replaced.

Several members of the staff attended a specialized driving course to train how to handle a car better under adverse weather conditions.

On one occasion a NOT observer did drive up to the observatory although the access to the ORM was restricted. Actually, a message was left for the observer at the car rental company we had arranged for the observer informing him that the road was officially closed and that he should contact either us or the Residencia, but the observer simply ignored this and drove up without talking to anybody. To try to avoid this in the future a request for a mobile phone number where the observer might be contacted in case of emergency was added to the web form that the PI of a proposal is requested to fill out one month before the start of an observing run. Also the text in the document that is send to the PI at this time about contacting the Residencia (especially in case of bad weather) before driving up was made more explicit.