5.12 Working environment

A dedicated analysis of the working environment and ergonomics of the facilities used for remote aerodromes ATS should be conducted by the ATS provider, as this would be an essential aspect for a successful implementation and an enabler for ATCO/AFISO overall system trust. A good working environment will help to reduce the risks for fatigue, stress, mental strain, etc.. A poor working environment on the other hand will negatively affect the ATCO/AFISO ability to perform their job, and might, in the long run, negatively affect the safety of ATS provision. The physical working environment (noise, temperature, lighting, etc.) would be required to be in accordance with national regulations for normal office establishments. It is recommended that the working environment permits daylight conditions equal/similar to ordinary office establishments. A comparison can be made to modern ACCs which typically are designed to allow for daylight conditions. Furthermore, it should be possible to adjust the lighting conditions in the RTC/RTM in order to adapt to the daylight/darkness conditions at the (possibly remote) aerodrome(s). For instance, if several RTMs are co-located in an RTC, there may be a need to control/adjust the light conditions individually for each RTM (as the light conditions may differ between the aerodromes connected to different RTMs). Within the RTM, care should be taken to the difference and transition in light between the visual presentation (e.g. display screens) and its background (e.g. wall). If this aspect is not well treated, it may create eye strain and reduce the usefulness of the visual presentation. The ATCO/AFISO workstation should be designed according to state-of-the-art ergonomic design principles and should allow for a degree of flexibility for user adaption. Aspects to consider may be: limiting the number of input and output devices to a minimum, adaption for left-/right-handed persons, height adjustable worktables, etc. including applicable ISO standards