University staff and students are involved with a highly diverse range of research globally and locally. With increasing attention on
health & safety with regards to BS8848 and the new UCEA/USHA Safety in Fieldwork Guidance, providing adequate safety
training for each venture is an important part of pre-departure preparation.

Planning fieldwork well prevents accidents happening, and ensures people know how to cope if they do. Fieldwork is often the
highlight of the university year and forms an integral part of academic life, so giving people the skills to do it safely and effectively
is essential, especially when research assistants and students are in the lead fieldworker’s care.

Real and perceived dangers
There are real and perceived dangers for any venture. When it comes to fieldwork, people often tend to focus on the wierd and wonderful - being eaten by a tiger, being bitten by a snake or coming face-to-face with a man-sized spider. But, whilst very dangerous if they actually occur, these things really are very rare and are unlikely to affect fieldworkers. The real dangers are more mundane: things like malaria and road accidents. They're pretty likely to happen and have big consequences.

Going remote
Being in a remote place is often necessary for fieldwork. However, if fieldworkers are heading somewhere off the beaten track, there are some fundamental questions to ask during the planning process to stay safe: if something goes wrong how am I going to get help? Who can I contact? When will they come? When they do come, what can they do? Given all of these things, should I be there doing what I want to do? Finding the answers to these often-tricky questions is the reason that fieldworkers need to produce comprehensive risk assessments and crisis management plans.

Assessing the risks
Most people are familiar with risk assessment but it can be seen as a tedious bit of paperwork towards the ultimate goal. When we're looking at fieldwork, getting the engagement of all fieldworkers with the risk assessment process is extremely important. Both before and during the trips all participants need the skills to assess the overall 'danger level' - taking into account severity and the likelihood of risky events. With these skills they are able to decide how to reduce the danger to acceptable levels. If the risks are acceptable, they can usually go ahead with the plan. If not, they can look at other measures which could be taken to reduce the danger level. If it's still too dangerous after that, then it's probably best not to do it.

Team effort
A risk assessment is not worth the paper it's written on if the fieldwork team is unaware of it - how can it work to protect them if they don't know it exists? Working on the risk assessment, as a team, pre-departure means that everybody knows the rules, and why they are in place. Once out in the field the risk assessment should be dynamically altered to reflect the current environment. It's usually impractical to update the formal document in the field, but a fieldwork diary with day-to-day notes to discuss with the whole team is often a good solution.

Being a bookworm
It's now relatively easy to obtain up-to-date information which will help in the fieldwork planning process. Google Earth is good for looking at terrain; organisations such as the RGS with IBG have a wealth of information on their websites; and social media can be a
great way to connect with others who have been to the same region that fieldwork is to be carried out in. Learning as much as possible about the destination will help no end with the planning and formal risk assessment. Finding out the answers to local questions - what is
the political climate like? What is the common flora and fauna? What is the number of a local helicopter company? - can make all the difference.

Don't be put off
Once fieldworkers start thinking about all the things that might go wrong, they shouldn't be put off from undertaking the fieldwork!
Fieldwork is challenging and this challenge starts from the minute a research idea is thought about. Seizing the planning by the horns;
ending up well off the beaten track, and doing it safely, will lead to successful fieldwork.

Download this article as a pdf here.

You can visit Fieldskills' website for more information about fieldwork safety.