// Duty Of Care: Integrated Travel Risk Management: Fieldwork Safety/Travel Safety
iTRIM: FieldSafe™️
iTRIM: TravelSafe™️
"I feel equipped regarding the types of risk that may occur during fieldwork and the necessary initiatives that need to be undertaken to ensure safety."
"It is a very important course, for anyone considering undertaking fieldwork, to complete."
Have you ticked all your risk management boxes ?
Our Faculty have been training Universities, exploration geologists, NGO’s through to Government agencies, international investment banks, Professional Services companies, Geoscience organisations and others, in advance of working in the field or travelling overseas, for decades, always with rave reviews. Elements of this training have been delivered across the Globe, from China to North America, Brazil to the Antarctic, Norway to Spain and many more in between, for fieldwork in mountains, jungles, deserts, arctic, Antarctica (for the Scott Polar Research Institute and many others), cities and many more. Virtual and blended options are also available in addition to the standard face to face options.
Faculty members have decades of experience in these fields including those invited, as subject matter experts, to join the committees writing the fieldwork safety and travel risk management standards:
BS: 8848 (from c. 2006) and ISO:31030.
Faculty members have also been subject matter expert speakers at international conferences, overseas.
If you are deploying staff, you need to have organisational systems in place to support those deployments. We regularly provide tailored training to organisations at senior operational level and assist in putting Travel Risk Management and Fieldwork safety systems in place.
Once systems are in place and management understand the risk and their responsibilities, we can provide training for those staff or students deploying. Programmes can last from a day to 14 days. An example programme, which can be delivered over a series of months, face to face or by blended learning, includes:
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2 days, delivered at your venue: Our own unique delivery of the Royal Geographical Society Off Site Safety Management Course including travel safety, risk assessment, transport, accommodation safety and incident response.
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1 day Risk Assessment bolt on (delegates need to subsequently undertake a risk assessment and report to management, within 10 days and submit it separately to our expert team, who then provide feedback, before delegates complete the final version for submission).
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3 hour (evening) mental health awareness.
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2 days field work and travel condition specific first aid including incident response
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1 hour (evening) communications (including sat phones, GPS trackers, personal locator beacons).
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1 day fieldskills (selecting campsites, setting up tents, safe use of cookers, food preparation, safe use of bladed instruments, rudimentary vehicle safety assessment).
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1.5 hour (evening) incident response and triage desk top exercise.
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Travel Safety/Personal Security Awareness
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Our post course portal includes mental health awareness (delivered by an experienced remote area G.P.) and psychological considerations (delivered by a Psychiatrist), working with helicopters and much more.
Case Study
2024: We ran training for a number of Universities, as we have done for many years. We also ran an integrated field safety/travel risk management programme, across an 8 month period, for a specialist institute of a globally renowned University - first for their senior management and staff, then for their PhD and Masters Degree students deploying overseas to undertake fieldwork of diverse types and categories relating to disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork could range from interviews in remote villages overseas, cities to very remote fieldwork in remote and/austere environments.
This tried, tested, evidence based delivery, designed to meet relevant standards, included to students from diverse nationalities.
Rave reviews across the board.
More importantly, students reported that this raised their awareness of risk management, personal safety and awareness in the field. They confirmed that the training would positively impact their practices in the field and that they would be adjusting their existing practices accordingly.
The programme was delivered by a Faculty of specialist risk managers, remote area medics, travel risk and field safety specialists, registered health and safety consultants, lawyers, G.P., Psychiatrist and fieldwork/ media safety and security specialists.
The programme is based on the decades of experience of our Faculty in travel safety, fieldwork safety, travel risk management, forensic travel/fieldwork/expedition incident investigation and representing sector clients in media, coroners inquests and court settings/contexts.
The specific programme has been devised to support delegates in future fieldwork, of whatever nature and addresses key risks that arise from fieldwork, location, activity, country, group, duration and more - evidenced by the statistics and addressed in the leading safety standards for fieldwork.
Multiple variations are possible. Training is tailored and fit for purpose.
This specific project included:
Pre reading.
6 days Face to face delivery
Online modules
1. Ethics training (1 day)
2. Risk Management/Travel Risk Management course (2 -3 days). Planning, group characteristics, medical, insurance, legal, risk assessment, transport safety, accommodation safety, water safety, what the statistics say, journey management, safe havens, evacuation planning, safeguarding, insurance, what are the safety standards/ requirements, minor and major incident management, many case studies. Comprehensive (optional) post course study. Desk top exercise.
3. Fieldwork Safety practical element (4 days) including 2 day first aid, mental health, navigation in the field, vehicle safety awareness, desk top incident management exercise, camp craft, environmental considerations, food safety/cooking in the field, travel safety.
4. Non compulsory post programme online materials including travel safety, risk management, working with helicopters, Doctor delivered mental health module , Psychiatrist delivered psychological considerations in the field module - and more.
Additional modules can include field survival, Prolonged Field Care and others.
What did the delegates say:
Testimonials:
It is a very important course, for anyone considering undertaking fieldwork, to complete.
…it felt every engaging and I got a lot out of it.
The pratical training (at the International Centre for Remote Area Risk, iCRAR™️) was very useful in bringing the different pieces of the puzzle together. There were all well coordinated and engaging.
Learnt lots of new things about fieldwork safety and was introduced to new risks I would not previously have been aware of.
Thank you to the R2Ri Faculty, they were all very engaging and helpful.
I enjoyed the overall experience and found it very useful.
All of the practical skills were really useful. It was also useful to get an overview of policy and legislation in this area. The case studies and examples were great as they were tailored to the group and provided real-world examples
The staff all seemed to be experts in what they were teaching. They were all friendly, professional, and informative. A highlight was how they tailored everything to the interests / career paths of the group.
A comprehensive overview of all aspect of safety to keep in mind. I now know what information to seek before embarking in a trip/humanitarian mission.
I really enjoyed the training and found the content valuable
Superfun, useful, practical.
Amazing !
10/10
Would you change anything ? : ‘Already perfect.’
Would you be more confident: Of course !
Would you recommend ? Yes
Would this change your practice ? : Totally !
Thank you so much.
Thank you very much for facilitating Fieldwork Safety course which was especially helpful for me as I am now in xxxxx (overseas) to conduct primary data collection.
The R2Ri Faculty’s diverse expertise created an enriching and inclusive learning environment. Their ability to integrate various perspectives and methodologies provided a well - rounded understanding of complex issues. This diversity and collaborative approach made the experience intellectually stimulating and practically valuable, greatly contributing to my understanding of safety management during fieldwork.
Would you be more confident/have a better understanding in terms of fieldwork risk management and considerations, now that you have undertaken the course?:
Definitely yes as I feel equipped regarding the types of risk that may occur during fieldwork and the necessary initiatives that need to be undertaken to ensure safety.
What environment/activity do you see yourself working in – in the future (eg NGO, Foreign Office (or non UK equivalent), Disaster Response organisation, other etc):
With an NGO in a complex humanitarian setting where natural hazards pose tremendous threats
Would you recommend the programme to others?:
Yes, especially to people who engage in disaster management, crisis management or other fieldwork
How will this course change your practice?
It changes my preparation for the field trip, conducting a risk assessment in advance and preparing for safety management during fieldwork becomes priority
Environment specific risk management and medical modules are available as well as:
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Rescue 3 accredited 2 day Water Safety for Expedition Leaders courses for those working in or near water or undertaking river crossings (run by our partners - the National Outdoor Centre, Plas y Brenin).
