Home / Resources / Field Safety Resources / Chapter 1: Preparation / Field Safety Plans

Field Safety Plans: Taking the time to compile a thorough safety plan and discuss it with your leader team will prepare you to more effectively manage risks that arise in the field. Developing and using a field safety plan is part of the Cal/OSHA requirement of an effective Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP) for the following activities:

  • Doing field research or teaching field courses off campus,
  • Work or courses that involve handling wildlife. Each campus Animal Care and Use Committee should verify that you have a Field Safety Plan.
  • Work performed at field stations or nature reserves. Established site procedures may be available, but should be supplemented with a safety plan for potential risks specific to your research or tasks.

UCSC field safety plan template:https://ehs.ucsc.edu/programs/research-safety/field-research/#tool

UCB field safety plan template: http://ehs.berkeley.edu/field-safety/how-do-i-create-field-safety-plan

A general field safety plan should contain the following:

General Title and Description of your class, outing, or research trip 

Communication Plan that includes:

  • Designated UC contact
  • Local contacts of people or groups near where you are going
  • Emergency contacts for each person, including leaders and students
  • Contacts for each leader and participant
  • Contact, maps, and other relevant information about the nearest medical facility where you will be going
  • General communication plan, including how, when, and how often you intend to communicate with participants, co-leaders, your UC contacts, and possibly your family.
  • Emergency communication plan, including how you will contact emergency services and report injuries
  • Emergency phone numbers for Risk Services and our UC Travel Insurance Provider (relevant if >100 miles from your home campus). This number is (800) 527-0218 or if outside the US, call collect at (410) 453-6330. Travelers who register with UC Away or book via Connexxus get these numbers in a confirmation email. They also can be found in the field safety plan template used by UCSC and UCB.

Transportation plan: Travel to and from a field site is one of the most dangerous activities involved in field work. The UC has several online tools designed to assist safe travel. UC Away enables researchers to register work-based travel for insurance coverage and to print travel insurance ID cards. Work-based travel (UC business travel) booked through Connexxus Travel (except Southwest Air for Connexxus) is automatically registered with UC Away. UC Away trip registration also includes access to Worldcue Traveler, a website that provides a customized Trip Brief for travelers that includes important travel information.

Whether traveling in California or abroad, there are several important transportation issues to address and include in the transportation section of a field safety plan. These include:

  • Types of transportation you will use (ground, water, air) to get to and from your field site
  • Who in your group can and will be driving
  • How and from what source will you use rental vehicles. With regard to insurance concerns, external vehicle rental agencies must have an established agreement with UC before they can be used for any UC travel.
  • Are special licenses and/or driver safety training required?
  • Information on local driving conditions
  • International travel concerns, including vaccine recommendations for participants
  • Guidelines for specific hazardous material transport. Contact your university EHS department for more resources.

Anticipated Hazards and plans/resources to mitigate them: The more time spent anticipating and planning for potential hazards, the better prepared you and your group will be when hazardous situations arise. Here are several specific topics that you may want to include in your plan:

  • Information about common field hazards - see chapter 2 for specific resources for common field hazards
  • Animal contact/ zoonotic disease concerns. There are many useful resources, including the UCSC EHS field research page and UCB’s EHS diseases and hazards page.
  • Specialized equipment that may be potentially hazardous or require specific training to use safely. Consult your EHS department for more information.
  • Handling of hazardous material. Consult your EHS department for more information.

Emergency/ Evacuation Plan(s) and Materials. See Chapter 2 for more detail

  • Pre-plan for potential evacuations; back-up plans
  • Clear communication plan (EMS support, supervisor contact info)
  • First Aid and patient assessment resources
  • Cell/satellite phone and GPS technology, backup batteries
  • Maps of where you’ll be and potential evacuation routes
  • Documentation forms (evacuation report forms, first aid documentation forms, etc.)
  • Evacuation plan guidelines and contingency plans
  • Helicopter evacuation guidelines
  • Resources for how your organization will respond to a serious accident on your course