If you are planning to work on land or on ice, there are a number of organisational and equipment aspects to consider in addition to the research work. How complex the planning and execution of the work ashore or on the ice will be depends very much on how long you plan to work and under what conditions. The decisive factor is whether Polarstern will move away from the work site on land and whether the distance also exceeds the helicopter range.
The basis for determining the necessary organisational aspects and the required equipment is a risk assessment for the planned work. This must be carried out by the team leader of the onshore work in consultation with the expedition leader. A template for the risk assessment as well as support in processing it can be requested from the AWI HSE department arbeitsschutz@awi.de and can be found here (accessible for AWI staff only): Gefährdungsbeurteilungen / Risk Assessments. Teams from other Institutes can of course use their own templates for risk analyses.
The results of the risk assessment are then used to draw up the catalogue of measures and equipment for the emergency/contingency plan which needs to be done by the team leader as well.
If a team plans to work onshore the announcement of the work needs to be done during the planning meeting of the respective expedition. The results of the risk assessment and the resulting emergency plan must be submitted to AWI HSE department for review at least three months before the start of the expedition in order to ensure that they are reviewed and agreed with Polarstern's ship's command. Expedition participants who are not employed by AWI must provide the necessary emergency equipment for the shore operation themselves.
