Overseas (Non- UK) Travel
This Health and Safety Standard was approved by Health and Safety Committee on 30th October 2012. It provides guidance to assist staff and students to arrange travel safely and in accordance with the University's requirements. It also states the University's Policy regarding the management of health and safety risks associated with non-UK travel and sets out essential requirements that must be followed.
Watch our "How To" (.ppsx) presentation for a quick overview of what you need to do. (NB: This should open as a slide show. If it doesn't select "slide show" and "from beginning" from the toolbar menu).
Note: In April 2013 the government made significant changes to its travel advice website (previously Foreign and Commonwealth Office Advice). Links on this site and the "How To" guide have been updated. The FCO Locate service no longer exists, instead travellers are encouraged to sign up to regular email or RSS alerts.
Follow the links below to find out about:
- Travel Insurance: If travelling to non-UK destinations on University business/research you will need to complete the Travel Application Form and send it to the University's Insurance and Risk Manager
- Planning for a safe trip: It is good practice to check Country reports on the Gov.uk (formally Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and Chartis Travel Guard Websites. Find out how to access the sites and other guidance in this section.
- Formal Risk Assessment: If you are travelling to a high or extreme risk location (as indicated by Chartis Travel Guard) or undertaking high risk activities you will need to carry out a formal risk assessment. Find out what types of visit require formal risk assessment and what you need to do.
- Travel Approval: If you are travelling to a high or extreme risk location you will need to show your risk assessment to your Head of Department and they will need to give formal approval. For visits to areas of extreme risk approval will need to be given by your Faculty PVC. Find out more in this section.
- Study abroad: Procedures are a little different for students undertaking study abroad.
- Competence and training
- Training offered by the University: If you are travelling to a high or extreme risk location you will need to complete Travel Angel, a short online course on travel security. Find out how to access the course in this section.
For general guidance on health and safety during non UK visits go to: Guidance on safe overseas travel
Statement on Policy and Practice for non-UK Visits
International activities are a key area of the University's strategic plan and the University encourages and supports staff and students who wish to carry out overseas work. The University recognises that many areas of its work may require travel overseas, and that some of this will be to areas that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) may advise are too risky.
The University does not wish to restrict travel that is essential to business, teaching and research. It does though have a duty of care to all employees and students who wish to travel overseas. The University provides advice and guidance to support employees in planning overseas visits safely and has comprehensive travel insurance arrangements in place.
The University also needs to be assured that risks to personal security, from natural disasters and from disease have been fully considered and appropriate precautions put into place when an employee or student intends to undertake an overseas visit to a high risk location. Such visits must be justified as part of a risk assessment and approval process (see below) which takes into consideration both the benefits of the visit and the risks involved. Those who undertake visits to high risk areas will also need to be able to demonstrate competence in planning and undertaking fieldwork of this kind.
Visits assessed as posing a severe threat (Chartis Travel Guard rating of Extreme) must be approved by the Faculty PVC or, for Professional Services, by the Registrar and Secretary.
Travel Insurance
All non-UK visits require adequate travel insurance. Accidents and incidents can arise any time, even in the safest of countries. Travel insurance will help to ensure that you get the support you need and that costs will be covered in the event of an accident or similar emergency. The University has an extensive travel insurance policy which will cover all non-UK visits carried out as part of the University's business. If you are planning a non-UK visit, you must complete the Overseas Travel Application Form (.doc) and send it to Stephen Couch, Insurance and Risk Manager, Room 4SW6.6, Colchester Campus. Email scouch@essex.ac.uk in order to arrange insurance. If there are multiple travellers and the space is not sufficient please use the Supplementary Sheet.
The form will be used to evaluate your trip and provide the necessary Travel Insurance and support advice.
- Do check what is covered by the insurance and, if you have any concerns, speak to the Insurance and Risk Manager. For example; are you planning any hazardous activities or to visit hazardous areas? Do you have any medical conditions that may affect cover?
- Don't assume that the Insurance Company will be able to help you out of all situations. For example, you may still need cash to cover costs of emergency vehicles and hospital treatment. Insurance companies can rarely access local services which you may need in the first instance, so if you are travelling to more remote areas, you will need to research availability and suitability of local hospitals, and/or emergency vehicles (e.g. helicopters) etc as part of your trip planning.
For most trips the Insurance and Risk Manager will confirm that travel insurance is in place and provide you with our insurer's emergency contact numbers. For certain visits, which are considered to be have higher health, safety and security risk, you will need to carry out a formal risk assessment and obtain travel approval before insurance can be confirmed. The Insurance and Risk Manager will advise you if risk assessment and travel approval is needed. More information on this is given below.
The Overseas Travel Application Form should be completed in good time, to enable review of the information and completion of a risk assessment and approval if required. Be aware that trips may have to be postponed or cancelled if there are safety concerns that cannot be addressed before travel, so we advise that a minimum of 2 weeks should be allowed. It is recommended that you seek advice on the risk assessment early in the planning stages of higher risk visits to reduce the risk of problems being encountered when formal approval is sought.
Planning for a safe trip
You must consider and plan for significant foreseeable health and safety risks that may arise from your non-UK visit. Risks will vary greatly and the extent of planning and preparation will need to reflect this. It is good practice to check the Government's (formally FCO) Travel Advice Website and / or the Country Reports on the Chartis Travel Guard Website* for more information on the country or countries that you are visiting. This is particularly important if you have not been there before or there could be emerging risks. (Both sites also contain useful advice on travel health and travel security).
*Please refer to the Travel Policy Help and Guidance (.pdf) (restricted) for a step-by-step guide to how to access Chartis Travel Guard. You will need the University's travel insurance policy number which you will find in the guide.
Through our travel insurers we also have access to Life Guard* is an extensive library of hints, tips and advice that can be downloaded as a PDF for viewing offline. *For information on how to access Life Guard read this step-by-step guide on how to access: Travel Angel and Life Guard (.pdf) (restricted)
We also have further guidance on safe overseas visits to help you to plan visits safely.
Formal risk assessment
Certain higher risk visits will require a formal written
risk assessment and
approval by a senior manager. They are:
- Visits to countries that are:
- Graded as Extreme on the risk indicator used by Chartis Travel Guard;
- Graded as High on the risk indicator used by Chartis Travel Guard
- Visits to countries or parts of countries where the Gov.UK (FCO) has advised against travel due to health risks or natural disasters;
- Visits that include adventurous activities (activities that involve an accepted element of risk, challenge or adventure and requires specialist skills for their safe management, such as climbing, caving, diving, or trekking in hazardous or remote areas ).
When you complete the Overseas Travel Application Form (.doc) you will be advised (within 24 hours) of whether a risk assessment is needed and provided with a risk assessment form (.doc). Alternatively you can complete the risk assessment form on this website and submit it with the Overseas Travel Application Form. If you need further advice on carrying out the risk assessment contact the Health and Safety Advisory Service (HSAS).
Travel Approval
Prior to booking any non-UK visits you should check your department's/section's requirements for approval.
The following applies across the University, in addition to departmental/section requirements:
- The University does not require formal approval for visits that do not require formal risk assessment (as described in the section above).
- Heads of Department / Section will approve visits that require formal risk assessment (those that the Chartis Travel Guard Risk Indicator grade as high, adventurous activities or significant health risk / natural disasters).
- Faculty PVCs or the Registrar
& Secretary will approve visits that the Chartis Travel Guard Risk Indicator
grades as Extreme.
- Heads of Department /
Section and above will need to obtain approval from their line manager.
The approval process is summarised in the flowchart below and should be
followed:
Overseas Travel Approval Process Flowchart (.pdf)
Once the Insurance and Risk Manager has received a satisfactory risk assessment and confirmation of approval for the above the types of visit, he will confirm that appropriate travel insurance is in place and provide emergency contact details. (For Study Abroad the Insurance and Risk Manager will confirm acceptance of the risk assessment, but travel insurance will be the responsibility of the student).
Study Abroad
Students undertaking study abroad do not need to complete the Travel Application Form, but formal risk assessment will be needed for visits to high or extreme risk locations.
The Essex Abroad Office will advise study abroad students of whether they need to complete the risk assessment and assist them with the process. They will also provide students with a "Risk Assessment for students working or studying abroad" form. The approval process is the same as described under Travel Approval above.
Students will also need to complete the online Travel Angel course prior to travel.
Competence and Training
Competence consists of an appropriate combination of knowledge, experience and qualifications, along with awareness of one's limitations and when to seek advice and assistance, for example from a technical adviser or someone with detailed knowledge of the area being visited. Those authorising non-UK visits will need to assess the competence of the independent traveller or group leader.
Competence can be gained in a variety of ways, including formal training, self development or learning from others. In assessing competence account will need to be taken of:
- The nature of the visit
- The traveller's past experience and knowledge of the country being visited
- Access to competent local support during the visit.
- Knowledge of:
- The University's and your department's standards / requirements for Non-UK visits
- Relevant aspects of the UCEA / USHA guidance on health and safety in fieldwork
- Risks associated with the country / environment you are visiting and appropriate precautions to protect yourself and others you are supervising. This could be gained through reading relevant information on the FCO or Chartis Travel Guard website, research via overseas contacts or others who have visited the country.
- Good travel safety practice: This can be obtained through formal training, such as the online Travel Angel course (see below) and/or reading guidance on good practice, such as the information available from the FCO, Chartis Travel Guard or Life Guard (see below).
- Specialist field skills training should also be considered
for higher risk trips.
- Experience of:
- Carrying out fieldwork relevant to the trip for which approval is being sought
- For fieldwork group leaders, managing , leading and supervising groups, possibly under adverse conditions
- The country / area being visited
- Appropriate qualifications may be required in some circumstances. For example for hazardous activities such as trekking or water sports, unless supervised by a suitably qualified person
- Appropriate first aid
qualification where group leaders or supervisors may need to provide first aid
Training offered by the University
The following is available from the University:
- Briefings on the overseas travel requirements can be arranged by contacting HSAS or the Insurance and Risk Officer
- Coaching on overseas travel risk assessment from the Health and Safety Advisory Service
- Travel Angel*: This is a short online travel security e-learning course designed to reduce your exposure to risk. It consists of 7 short modules each of which take 5-6 minutes to complete (and can be completed over several days if necessary). Those travelling to countries or areas that the Chartis Travel Guard Risk Indicator grade as High or Extreme will need to complete this course unless they can show that they have received formal overseas travel security training from another provider. Other overseas travellers and those required to approve overseas visits may also find the course useful.
- Life Guard* is an extensive library of
hints, tips and advice that can be downloaded as a PDF for
viewing offline.
*For information on how to access Travel Angel and Life Guard read this step-by-step guide on how to access: Travel Angel and Life Guard (.pdf) (restricted)
Feedback
It is important that our overseas travel approval procedures support you in planning safe overseas travel. For this reason the Health and Safety Committee will be evaluating the effectiveness of this standard one year after implementation. If you have any comments to make on your experiences of working under this new standard please email safety. Any views will be useful during the evaluation.