Küpper Thomas, Milledge Jim S, Hillebrandt David, Kubalová Jana, Hefti Urs, Basnyat Buddha, Gieseler Ulf, Pullan Richard, Schöffl Volker
Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, Aachen, Germany.
Ann Occup Hyg. 2011 May;55(4):369-86. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/meq102. Epub 2011 Mar 25.
The Commission gives recommendations on how to provide health and safety for employees in different kinds of low oxygen atmospheres. So far, no recommendations exist that take into account the several factors we have outlined in this report.
The health and safety recommendations of several countries were analysed for their strength and deficiencies. The scientific literature was checked (Medline, etc.) and evaluated for relevance of the topic. Typical situations of work in hypoxia were defined and their specific risks described. Specific recommendations are provided for any of these situations.
We defined four main groups with some subgroups (main risk in brackets): short exposure (pressure change), limited exposure (acute altitude disease), expatriates (chronic altitude disease), and high-altitude populations (re-entry pulmonary oedema). For healthy unacclimatized persons, an acute but limited exposure down to 13% O(2) does not cause a health risk. Employees should be advised to leave hypoxic areas for any break, if possible. Detailed advice is given for any other situation and pre-existing diseases.
If the specific risk of the respective type of hypoxia is taken into account, a pragmatic approach to provide health and safety for employees is possible. In contrast to other occupational exposures, a repeated exposure as often as possible is of benefit as it causes partial acclimatization. The consensus statement was approved by written consent in lieu of a meeting in July 2009.
委员会就如何为处于不同低氧环境中的员工提供健康与安全给出建议。到目前为止，尚无考虑到我们在本报告中所概述的多种因素的建议。
分析了几个国家的健康与安全建议的优点和不足。查阅了科学文献（如医学在线等）并评估了其与该主题的相关性。定义了低氧环境下的典型工作情况并描述了其特定风险。针对这些情况中的任何一种都提供了具体建议。
我们定义了四个主要组及一些子组（括号内为主要风险）：短期暴露（压力变化）、有限暴露（急性高原病）、外派人员（慢性高原病）和高海拔人群（再入性肺水肿）。对于健康且未适应环境的人来说，短时间但有限地暴露于低至13%的氧气环境中不会造成健康风险。如有可能，应建议员工在任何休息时间离开低氧区域。针对任何其他情况和既有疾病给出了详细建议。
如果考虑到各自类型低氧的特定风险，为员工提供健康与安全的务实方法是可行的。与其他职业暴露不同，尽可能频繁地重复暴露是有益的，因为这会导致部分适应。该共识声明于2009年7月以书面同意代替会议的方式获得批准。
