Planning installation work and trips to work at the H.E.S.S. site

Under construction! - Needs update!!!

When you plan to come to the H.E.S.S. site for installation work or shifts, please proceed as follows

  1. At an early stage, and before booking flights etc, contact Michael Panter (+49 6221 516 273) to coordinate your work plan with the other activities on site. It is best to send an email, which will automatically send copies to the committee coordinating the transition from commissioning to running (Michael Panter, German Hermann, Christian Stegmann, Michael Punch, Louis-Marie Chounet) and to Toni Hanke, our technical site manager. Check the short term work and travel schedule concerning other scheduled activities.
  2. Check with Adele Cranz if housing on or near the H.E.S.S. site is available (send copies to Toni Hanke and Heidelberg; the email address includes the relevant cc's). Please make your own arrangements for housing in Windhoek, see travel page.
  3. If issues 1., 2. are positive, book your flights, and contact Adele Cranz in case special arrangements concerning pickup at the airport or in Windhoek are desired.
  4. Send an email with your final travel plans; copies will go to Toni Hanke, Adele Cranz, Riaan Steenkamp and Heidelberg.
  5. Make sure that you have all paperwork required for a work permit. MPIK personnel should also have the letter guaranteeing coverage of medical costs in case of emergencies.
  6. Before leaving, check once more that with Michael Panter and Toni Hanke that your work schedule still makes sense; this is particularly important in case you have not been in touch with them for a while.
  7. At customs, you should normally enter with a work permit, and register as "Seconded Scientist for the H.E.S.S. Project", see special instructions.
  8. You will need keys to enter the H.E.S.S. site and the buildings; you will normally receive the keys from Toni Hanke or one of the technicians on the site. If nobody is at the site, you may arrange to pick up keys in Windhoek, e.g. from Riaan Steenkamp. Please check the details with Toni Hanke. Return the keys before your departure. Lost keys may require an exchange of the entire locking system, and you or your lab will be charged.
  9. Read the safety instructions (available in English) and, on the site, confirm with your signature (in the safety book, see Toni Hanke or one of the technicians) that you have read and acknowledged the current version of the instructions. You may receive additional safety instructions from the people on site. Note that Toni Hanke, responsible for safety on the site, and E. Tjingaete as his deputy have complete authority in all issues related to safety.
  10. Note that you are not allowed to drive MPIK vehicles, or operate the cherry picker, the fork lift or heavy workshop equipment without proper instruction, and that you need to be registered in the user list.
  11. Before leaving, return your keys and sign out. If you stayed in the H.E.S.S. residence building, you do not have to pay for your room in Namibia; an invoice will be sent to your home lab. If you stayed elsewhere (including Cranz' rooms), settle your bill before leaving.

The safety regulations concerning Namibia and the H.E.S.S. site are available in English. Information concerning travel, maps, hotel addresses etc. can be found here.

H.E.S.S. site phone numbers and relevant email addresses are listed here.

Note that while the technical site manager and the site technicians will try to assist you in case of problems, you cannot count on them to help for extended periods unless this has been scheduled before with Michael Panter and Toni Hanke. The same holds for the use of the workshop and other technical facilities and equipment.


W. Hofmann