The ECA Guide to Health & Safety for Field work and foreign travel.

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1 The ECA Guide to Health & Safety for Field work and foreign travel. Introduction & Basics. It s easy to think that Health & Safety is something which only effects our activities within the main campuses and buildings at ECA, but much of our most interesting work takes us off campus, whether it s filming a documentary, a sketching trip to the highlands and islands, photographing a political demonstration, organising a music workshop with school children in a foreign country. Each of these situations present their own unique challenges to ensuring that the risks from both the activity and the environment that they put us in are managed appropriately. The risks associated with these activities are hugely varied, and may be ancillary to the activity itself, but present a greater risk due to the location or other factors. Illness, accidents, crime, political unrest or environmental issues such as weather conditions all need to be considered. It may not be an issue if you become unwell at work or at home, but if you are alone or abroad, do you have access to appropriate medical care? We need only look at the recent tragic events in Paris, a city one would perhaps normally consider low risk for either student trips or academic research / conference visits to suddenly become High risk. In these situations (as with ill health or natural disasters) there is little we can do to control events, but clearly the impact can be minimised by suitable prior planning for communication and insurance etc. should the worst happen. So, any activity which could foreseeably involve a risk of injury to anyone involved should be assessed (as described later in this document) and a record kept of the assessment process, along with an outline of the project and appropriate contact list and communication plan. A record of these documents and assessment should be kept by administration staff within the appropriate department at ECA where it can be accessed as required. UoE produces extensive guidance on dedicated websites for both Staff and Students (see links at the end of this guide), and whilst these differ in detail, they can be summarised in that their requirements include: A travel plan (dates, locations and contact details) A risk assessment (considering the appropriate foreseeable eventualities associated with the activities, the people and the locations etc.) Travel Insurance cover (taking the UoE Insurance cover - usually at no extra cost brings with it a range of benefits including emergency response and recovery in extreme situations etc.)

2 Any travel requires the appropriate documentation to be completed in good time prior to travel to ensure the necessary insurance cover and emergency contact arrangements are in place. Recent figures showed that 15% of initial requests for travel insurance were received within 24hrs of departure, which may result in inadequate or no cover being in place. This guide should also be read in in conjunction with the ECA Guide to the correct procedures to avoid public fear and alarm if the planned activity has the potential to create difficulties in this area (such as filming or performance activities etc.) and other appropriate guidance. If communication between those undertaking fieldwork is to be either wholly or in part web based ( / Blog / Social Media etc) these details should be recorded in the planning documentation. Identifying the challenges. When considering risks, we need to first of all look at what could foreseeably happen. We don t need to worry endlessly about every disaster which COULD befall us, but we do need to consider those which MIGHT, and depending on the likelihood / severity of these events, we need to plan accordingly. That is the basis of risk assessment. So, when you are planning a field trip, be it a group trip to building site, a solo filming expedition to a remote island, or a research trip to museums and temples in India, the first thing to consider should be what problems might I face on this trip. filling in a form which says Risk assessment is not in itself the assessment. Your decision making process is the assessment; filling in the form is simply a documenting step. If your trip is a sketching session in the meadows or the National Museum during the day, the risks would be considered as being no greater than those we face in everyday life, and you wouldn t need to record a specific assessment for this. A filming project to document political unrest in the Middle East would of course require a more detailed and considered documented assessment. Case studies. Below are just a range of the type of risks which could be associated with a number of activities likely to be undertaken by ECA staff and students throughout their time here. Within each example Example 1. If you want to go out at night in the centre of town and make a documentary about the work of night club bouncers, the risks may include (In no particular order); Risk of violence and assault either during filming or travel Exposure to cold / wet weather Damage to and or loss of equipment (not technically health & safety, but a by-product as it may involve assault, and is equally of concern to ECA / equipment owner) Lone working (if applicable)

3 has been highlighted just a few of the foreseeable risks which can be identified, and should be addressed within a suitable risk assessment. Example 2. An organised field trip to a construction site or derelict building Risk from site hazards such as falls, falling materials, mobile plant, services, asbestos Exposure to cold / wet weather Damage to and or loss of equipment (not technically health & safety, but a by-product, and of concern to ECA / equipment owner) Separation of an individual from the group due to complexity of sight / distraction Example 3. A research trip to record and research remote settlements in a foreign country What to do in the event of Illness / injury Lack of communication between individual and ECA / Home Cultural issues / language Political / social changes during trip Unanticipated changes to plans not shared with ECA / Home Example 4. A lone or small group urban exploration visit to explore and document old/ derelict / inaccessible property or areas Injury due to structural or other issues Personal safety (including possible drug paraphernalia, disturbing rough sleepers etc) Exposure to chemicals / asbestos Police attention for unauthorised entry Weather conditions / exposure risk, depending on location How to carry out the assessment. Any assessment of risk should be approached in the same manner. The aim should never be to justify the selection of the controls you ve always used before, but to look at the best way to reduce the foreseeable risks to an acceptable level. 1. Avoid Can you avoid undertaking the activity itself : perhaps use stock footage, images or sound to convey your work without the risk. Could you use a video link to communicate, rather than enter a dangerous situation? 2. Carry it out from a safe place Rather than getting into the animal s habitat, can you photograph it from the Safari Vehicle, or through other protective devices. (this is why Kate Adie often reported on wars from a hotel balcony, to remove her from the direct line of fire)

4 3. Control measures - Any control measures you use should be passive rather than pro-active where possible, and collective measures should take priority over individual. For example, On a construction site visit, Scaffolding provides safe work at height for everyone, without any individual having to clip on a harness (which people may forget / neglect to do) or Using a fume cupboard to control inhalation risks is preferable to relying on natural ventilation. 4. Training Whatever measures are in place, those at risk must be aware of them and how to comply with the assessment. There is no point in having a safe system of work if people don t know what they are meant to do to comply with it. 5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Wearing a hard hat and a yellow vest will not in itself keep you safe! Where protective equipment is required, it should be a last line of defence to address the residual risk that other measures may fail. Just because people wear hard hats, doesn t mean it s OK to just let things fall on them. When completing the assessment you must also consider: Who is likely to be harmed, how, where, when, and by what. Remember the anciliary risks of Social / environmental / Illness as well as those directly associated with the planned activity. Once you have decided what the risks are, you apply the principals outlined above to reduce the risks to a level as low as reasonably practicable, in other words, where the reduction in risk is appropriate when balanced against the time, effort and cost of implementing the controls identified. If the risk is of possible death, then expensive and time consuming controls are appropriate which may not be appropriate where there is only the outside chance of a sore finger. Once you have decided on the appropriate controls to address each of the significant risks you have identified you should record these. The current UoE forms are available via the link in the following section. You are free to adapt these forms as necessary to suit your needs, but the important thing is that you demonstrate how the controls you propose reduce the risk to the individuals involved. It is important that controls are appropriate, workable, and one does not conflict with another. those involved in the task will often be best placed to decide on appropriate controls, as they know the planned activity and its purpose. You must discuss the assessment with those involved failure to do so will likely mean the controls are not employed as intended (or at all) and those involved in the task will often be best placed to decide on appropriate controls, as they know the planned activity and it s purpose. The outcome of the assessment should form the basis of a safe system of work (also known as a method statement), a document which describes the controls and their application. For many of our projects, this may be in the form of an instruction of what to do in the event of an emergency, or how often contact will be made with a lone worker to confirm that they are safe and well, and who will take action in the event of loss of contact, and when and what they are to do. This information must be shared with all those involved in the activity. Once the task is completed the assessment should be reviewed did it work? Were there any problems? If it is a task which will be carried out in the future, make a note of the review so that it can be improved for next time.

5 Useful information sources. The University of Edinburgh Corporate H&S website. For staff: This website contains links to all the relevant information. In particular, I d draw your attention to the Travel plans and Risk assessments sections under safety guidance, and to the travel planning flowchart For Students: The International Office Go Abroad website includes advice on emergency contact information, international emergency arrangements, overseas health cover, travel and health insurance etc. for students. The UoE Corporate Health & Safety Department templates for Field work and Foreign travel are crucial to out consistent approach to managing these issues. In addition to the above links, they are available here: Along with guidance on completing the fieldwork form (FA1): University Travel Insurance The University has a Travel Insurance Policy for employees and students who are required to travel on University business. Cover is not automatic and should be arranged on an individual or group basis through the University's Insurance Office, insurance@ed.ac.uk. Prior to your visit you must access the UoE Insurance office You are required to complete the online insurance application form When this has been completed you will receive emergency insurance contact numbers for use whilst travelling.

6 It is worth noting that there is usually no additional cost for the cover under the UoE policy, and by liaising with them in advance a number of additional benefits are available to you such as emergency medical cover and evacuation arrangements etc. University Guidance on Vehicle use. General guidance can be found on the university transport page: Particular attention should be paid to the requirements to display a 'section 19 permit' in the vehicle at all times. Details of these permits and more importantly, where to get them, are available at: I would recommend that anyone planning the use of a vehicle as part of their work within ECA, whether a local journey, or a field trip, familiarise themselves with the contents of Section 4.8 of Part 2 of the UoE H&S Policy: (I'm sorry, that last bit sounds really 'elf 'n' safety, but it's where the full info is!) The Health & Safety Executive The HSE, the UK regulator for Health & safety in Education, has produced extensive guidance on the subject of education field trips. Helpful FAQs can be found at: The Suzy Lamplugh Trust. The Suzy Lamplugh Trust provides a wide range of free guidance on lone working which can be applied to situations as may be encountered by ECA staff and students: The UK Foreign office Travel advice & Red24 The Foreign Office offer fairly comprehensive and up to date information on safety, security, health etc. issues for countries across the globe: The red24 website (which the University subscribes to) also provides detailed up to date information on political and environmental situations around the world. Details are available via the staff and student links, above.