Training you may need to consider:

⦁ Offsite work planning.
⦁ Induction/orientation.
⦁ Risk assessment.
⦁ Fitness training.
⦁ Leadership.
⦁ Travel health.
⦁ Behaviour code
⦁ Specific equipment as highlighted in the risk assessment.
⦁ Languages
⦁ Cultural awareness
⦁ Hostile environments
⦁ First-aid and preventative medical treatment
⦁ Specific activity training e.g. Off road driving, diving, climbing, navigation
⦁ Responding to an incident and emergency
⦁ Survival, rescue techniques.
⦁ Security.

The following courses are available to you:

 

Off-site Safety Management Training

The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) run an excellent two-day course on off-site safety management at their premises in Kensington Gore (adjacent to the South Kensington Campus).  Although this is aimed at those organising group educational trips it is relevant to research as well.

First Aid Training

First aid must be considered for all off-site work. Contact the Learning and Development Centre for more information.

Travel to meetings and conferences

No formal first aid training is necessary for travel to meetings or conferences, although individuals should take include some simple first aid items e.g. plasters as part of their travel supplies. See Travel First Aid pages.

Hosted Research

For hosted research visits, first aid training is not required, provided that the work is carried out in a managed environment, where access to local first aid support is likely.

Fieldwork

All offsite workers should have some basic first aid training, or be otherwise competent in the management of a casualty.
Students being taken on supervised fieldwork into wild country should have received some training in survival skills, the basic management of minor injuries, and care of an unconscious casualty.
Sufficient members of staff must have attended a Fieldwork First Aid training course in the previous three years for there to be a trained first aider in each work group, if the group splits up into separate parties.
For overseas fieldwork, individuals should have attended a personal first aid course. For fieldwork in remote locations including solo trips to resource-poor countries, at least one member of each work party must have attended a Fieldwork First Aid training course in the previous three years.
For extended trips or expeditions to extreme environments, at least one member of the party should have completed an Advanced Fieldwork or Wilderness Medical Training course.
Refer to the Learning and Development Centre web pages of offsite work / Field work first aid training courses. 

First Aid Training Courses

The College learning and development centre organises on-site personal and Fieldwork First Aid courses as well as First Aid at Work Certificate courses.
The Royal Geographical Society runs an annual Wilderness Medical Training course and can advise on other specialist providers for this.
A physician or nurse in current clinical practice does not need to attend first aid training to be considered a qualified first aider.

First Aid kits

A first aid kit should be carried by each party during field work in non-managed environments. For detailed recommendations see Travel First Aid pages.
All College vehicles must carry a standard first aid kit.

Land Rover Driver Training

For workers intending to undertake off-road driving as part of an offsite work activity, the RGS offer a two-day Land Rover driver training course at Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire.

Basic Boat Handling

All staff considering driving power boats during offsite activities must obtain appropriate training.  The Royal Yachting Association run courses from approved training centres around the UK. 

Competence

Offsite work Principal Investigators, Persons in Charge and participants working off-site must be competent to plan and undertake offsite work safely. Competence in this context is defined as being an appropriate combination of knowledge, experience and qualifications, and being able to acknowledge personal limitations and call upon others to assist when necessary.
The Head of Department must be satisfied that the PI or nominated PIC conducting offsite work has the personal capability and competence required to conduct the activity safely and where required, supervise others.
It is important to recognise that an offsite work PI and / or offsite worker’s competence in an academic subject, or in research techniques, is different from competence in offsite management, leadership, and supervisory skills.
Field work PI’s, PIC’s need to be trained where necessary and their competence and training assessed and recorded.