Research Degrees Unit

RESEARCH DEGREES UNIT

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RISK-ASSESSMENT INFORMATION FOR RESEARCH

STUDENTS UNDERTAKING FIELDWORK

Supervisors should also make themselves aware of the contents of this document.

The School expects students undertaking fieldwork to comply with the recommendations of the Respect Project (professional and ethical codes for socioeconomic research in the information society). A copy of the code is available from the Research Student Unit or at: The Social Research Association’s Code of Practice for the Safety of Social Researchers also contains useful advice: Safe.htm .

This document gives further information on the requirements to be followed for all work carried out outside of the School. The purpose of these guidance notes is not to produce comprehensive direction but rather to outline the necessary steps to be taken for the safe management of fieldwork activities. At the end of this document you will find checklists for ensuring you have dealt with all the issues and a form which must be signed by you, your supervisor and your Doctoral Programme Director.

Students are responsible for taking appropriate measures to ensure their own safety. The School cannot be held responsible for any harm suffered or inflicted as a consequence of not following these guidelines.

Conveners must ensure that no fieldwork takes place unless an appropriate hazard and risk assessment has been carried out. The fieldwork approval form should not be signed unless evidence is provided that a hazard and risk assessment has been carried out. Likewise the completion of a hazard and risk assessment is a prerequisite for ethical approval and the ethics approval section of the form should not be signed unless an assessment has been completed.

Supervisors carry the main responsibility for ensuring that any proposed fieldwork has been subjected to a suitable and sufficient hazard and risk assessment and that the significant findings of the assessment, together with the appropriate measures to reduce risk and hazards to health, are recorded and communicated to the persons who will be involved in the fieldwork activities. The written hazard and risk assessment should be signed by the student, the supervisor and the departmental Doctoral Programme Director.

Once completed the written hazard and risk assessment should be attached to the application for leave of absence for fieldwork.

The supervisor must take responsibility for ensuring that the student has an appropriate level of training and expertise to carry out safely the intended activities. In addition the supervisor must decide based on advice from appropriate healthcare professionals whether any individuals may need to be excluded from fieldwork owing to medical problems which may cause difficulties and threaten the health of the individual concerned in the proposed fieldwork locations

Advice

For the vast majority of students doing research in libraries, or generally out and about in the UK or Western Europe, or in ‘normal academic mode’, there is no need for any risk assessment for ‘serious additional risk’. However, actual examples of exceptions to this general rule might be: a visit to a library in Pretoria where the recommendation is to travel from a secure hotel by taxi; research for a thesis on ‘Crime and Nightlife in Manchester’; or visiting a university in the Middle East, where caution would be recommended. If ‘alarm bells ring’, then it is important for a student to have communication with their tutor or supervisor, usually by email, to consider this issue. In the vast majority of such cases of ‘serious additional risk’ the result would be a short, simple discussion, followed by the supervisor or tutor recording this as a file note, a line or two in an annual report, or an entry on LSE For You or in a PhD logbook. If it is felt useful, the following checklist can make suggestions as to what might or might not be appropriate to consider. If the hazards thrown up are considered to produce a serious risk in respect of fieldwork, then useful guidelines can be found on the research students’ pages of the LSE website under risk assessment information for research students undertaking fieldwork. This risk assessment form is modelled on those guidelines, and will be appropriate as the document which should be attached to the application to undertake fieldwork for PhD students. The system will also serve as a useful model for other undergraduate or postgraduate students when there is ‘serious additional risk’.

Review and support

If any student or member of academic staff requires additional support on this issue, they should seek advice from Julian Fulbrook, the Dean of Graduate Studies ()

RISK-ASSESSMENT FORM FOR RESEARCHSTUDENTS UNDERTAKING FIELDWORK

To be attached to the application to undertake fieldwork

Access

How do you intend to travel to the fieldwork site?
What special travel arrangements will be involved in conducting the fieldwork?
Is it possible to get permission from local institutions and authorities to conduct the fieldwork?
Has travel and health insurance been arranged?
Are special insurance provisions required (e.g. emergency medical evacuations from some regions will require a supplement to be paid; working in specific regions may also involve an insurance surcharge)?

You must arrange your own travel and health insurance; the School’s insurance will not cover you while you are on fieldwork.

Training

Does the work require access to remote areas?
Does this require any special skills needed for traversing hazardous terrain, e.g. mountainous, desert, ice-bound, jungle, or open water conditions?
May this need specialist equipment?
If accessing remote areas are you trained to an appropriate level in wilderness first aid?
Have you acquired appropriate language skills? Alternatively, have you made appropriate provision to be accompanied by a translator?
If the project involves research into sensitive subjects (e.g. sexual health) then have you received appropriate interpersonal skills training?
Are there particular knowledge and skills needed for everyday activities at this site (e.g. food preparation, filtering and treatment to provide potable drinking water)?
Will the work require specialist driving skills (e.g. off-road driving, traversing moving water courses etc)

Health

Will the fieldwork involve working in countries outside the EU, USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand?
Do you need malaria or other prophylactic advice?
Do you need particular vaccinations for this specific fieldwork site?
Do you need a health or dental check-up?
Are appropriate first aid kits available (consult Occupational Health and Travel Clinic)?
Do you have a specific medical requirement for which you are fully prepared, e.g. asthma inhalers, epipens, emergency and back-up medication?

Pre-planning

Are all the relevant documents easily available (e.g. permits to work, visas, planning insurance, driving licences, proof of vaccinations etc)?
Does your tutor or supervisor have a record of your next of kin and home GP?
Has a record been lodged with an appropriate ‘home contact’ of any specific medical problems (e.g. allergies, asthma, diabetes, medication needs)?
Have local authorities been informed of the work (if appropriate) and have all appropriate permissions been sought?
Have the local conditions been evaluated on the basis of information, such as can be obtained on the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office website at

Has information been sought on local codes of practice, standards and legal statutes that may be relevant to the fieldwork?
Has knowledge been obtained about local culture and customs?
Are provisions in place for the logging of itineraries and return times?

Checklist 2: Risks inherent in the travel

Transport

What method of travel will be used to reach the fieldwork site (e.g. car, public transport, air travel or a combination of these)?
Are there any particular hazards associated with these methods of travel in the fieldwork area?
What method of travel will be used during fieldwork?
What measures are being taken to address any significant fieldwork hazards (e.g. suitable transport, qualified drivers for conditions, maintained vehicles)?
Are suitable maps and navigational aids available?
Have you evaluated the risks of various modes of transport in the fieldwork area, and considered any appropriate alternatives/

Equipment/vehicles

Do your vehicles comply with all local legislation?
Are they adequately insured for the purpose for which they will be used?
Are they correctly maintained and serviced?
Are they correctly loaded?
If visiting remote locations are critical spares available?
Will adequate fuel be available?

Training

Does the work require access to remote areas?
Does this require any special skills (e.g. navigation by map and compass, and/or by electronic navigation equipment)?
Is your level of driving competence appropriate for the location (e.g. significant experience of off-road driving, defensive driving techniques)?

Physical hazards

Are the fieldwork activities likely to encounter extreme weather (e.g. dry, desert, extreme heat or cold, etc)?
Are your equipment and clothing sufficient to meet these conditions?
Will the fieldwork involve moving across extreme or hazardous terrain, including watercourses?
Is your training sufficient to meet these conditions?

Biological and environmental hazards

Are local animal populations likely to present any special hazard?
What measures are being taken to address any significant hazards (e.g. suitable clothing such as a bug jacket or headnet, antidotes for venom, rabies inoculations)?
Does plant life at the fieldwork site present any hazard?
Will there be chemicals, biological agents or dusts present at any part of the fieldwork location, of the kind covered in the UKby COSHH [Control of Substances Hazardous to Health] regulations (e.g. industrial or agricultural site, hospitals or laboratories)?
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Will a COSHH assessment be needed or has a local assessment of similar standard already been undertaken?
Are levels of air- or other types of pollution likely to pose a danger?
Is there a prospect of imminent military activity or civil unrest?
If overseas has a check been made with the appropriate officials from your own country (e.g. US State Department, LOCATE system for UK citizens, etc)?

Checklist 4: risks inherent in the work

Personal safety

Has the risk of attack been assessed and provided for (if appropriate)?
Has appropriate equipment been provided (e.g. personal attack alarms)?
Are accident and emergency plans in place (including emergency evacuation plans)?
Has a routine method of communication been established (e.g. landline telephone, mobile phone, satellite link, radio, email, fax or other)?
Has an alternative method of communication in an emergency been established?
If lone working is to be undertaken can it be justified (taking account of the hostility and location of the site and your experience)?
Has a daily itinerary been lodged with a responsible person?
Is there a daily routine for logging in and out with a nominated person?
Do you feel you have adequate communications equipment (e.g. portable radio)?
Do you have a ‘home contact’ who can alert the appropriate authorities in case of an emergency?

Food and accommodation

Are there adequate arrangements for the provision and hygienic preparation of food and water?
Do you have adequate knowledge of local potable water conditions and the necessary standards of food hygiene and preparation?
Is appropriate secure accommodation available?
If appropriate, do you have a ‘Plan B’ for alternative secure accommodation as a refuge in an emergency?

Clothing and equipment

Do you have adequate and appropriate clothing for the site and any conditions that you may encounter there?
Is your equipment fit for the purpose and is it well maintained?
Are you adequately trained in its use?
Has appropriate safety equipment been provided and is it being used (e.g. malaria protection nets).
Is project-critical or safety-critical equipment repairable on site?
If not, should it be duplicated before leaving for the fieldwork site?

Emergency evacuation and additional factors

Have adequate provisions been made for evacuation and the recovery of casualties and medical emergencies to an appropriate health care facility (e.g. this may require special arrangements with an insurance provider)?
Do you know the procedures to be followed in case of such an emergency evacuation?
Are there any other significant hazards attached to your proposed trip, and have you taken care to evaluate any further issues that might give rise to ‘serious additional risk’ for you?

I confirm that I have carried out a risk assessment in accordance with the School’s policy and that I consider reasonable measures are in place to provide for my safety and deal with the eventualities identified in the risk assessment. I am undertaking this fieldwork of my own volition and I acknowledge that it is not required by the School. I accept that while engaged in fieldwork or away from the School I am responsible for my own health, safety and possessions.

Signature of studentDate

I certify that the student has satisfied me that a risk assessment has been carried out in line with the recommendations in the document Information for research students undertaking fieldwork and that the student has shown me that reasonable measures are in place to provide for the student’s safety and deal with the eventualities identified in the risk assessment.

Signature of supervisorDate

Signature of Doctoral

Programme Director:Date

Signature of the Chair of

Research Degrees Subcommittee[1]:Date

Research Ethics

LSE has a research ethics policy and guidance with which all students undertaking research are required to comply. The policy and guidelines can be found at:

Please read these and discuss with your supervisor whether there are any ethical dimensions that have not been addressed previously.

If new ethical dimensions have been identified, please tick here:

[1]Or delegated authority