Fieldwork risk assessments identify and record the foreseeable hazards and risks associated with the fieldwork activities to be carried out in a specific physical environment. These assessments also detail the control measures or precautions that need to be taken to reduce identified risks so that fieldwork can be undertaken safely. TO MAKE A RISK ASSESSMENT You need to: • Identify each hazard • Think about the risks to health and safety • Identify who might be harmed • Evaluate the risks • Think about the precautions you could take to prevent or reduce the risk of harm

Before you undertake fieldwork you also need to check that you will be adequately clothed and equipped for the terrain and conditions in which you are likely to be working. CLOTHING • warm, wind and waterproof jacket • waterproof overtrousers • good quality, waterproof footwear that gives ankle support • mid layers and base layers EQUIPMENT • safety helmet with chin strap • high visibility vest • watch • map and compass • survival bag • mobile phone • first aid kit • rucksack • whistle and torch • clinometer • sunscreen and sunglasses • food and drink • field notebook and pencils • hand lens • metal tape and grain size card • hammer and goggles

PREPARE FOR YOUR FIELDWORK 1. Ensure that you are physically fit. 2. Buy the correct map before you go into the field 3. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the terrain. 4. Make sure you know how to use a compass in order to find your position on a map. 5. Find out what to do in an emergency. 6. Get basic first aid training. 7. Check the long range weather forecast. 8. Get prior permission for access to farmland, hunting estates and military training areas 9. Pack the appropriate clothing and equipment.

COMMON HAZARDS 1. Crags and loose screes. 2. Steep grassy slopes and rock slabs. 3. Changes in weather conditions. 4. Waterfalls. 5. Rivers. 6. Old mines and mineral workings. 7. Exhaustion. 8. Getting lost. 9. Boggy ground. 10. Unexploded shells in military training areas RISKS Match the ten common hazards listed above to the following six risks. In each case decide which precautions you would take to prevent or reduce the risk of harm. a. Trips and falls resulting in sprains and broken bones. b. Drowning. c. Head injuries d. Hypothermia. d. Entrapment and suffocation. e. Broken limbs and spinal or head injuries.

GENERAL PROCEDURES 1. Leave a note at your base of the locations where you will be working, the estimated time of arrival at each location and expected time of return to base. 2. Keep to your itinerary. 3. Recognise there are risks associated with a range of hazards encountered when undertaking fieldwork in upland areas and take appropriate measures to reduce these risks. 4. Never take unnecessary risks.

COMMON HAZARDS 1. Tides 2. Changes in weather conditions. 3. Grassy slopes above steeply dipping rock slabs. 4. Boulder and block fields. 5. Unstable rock faces. 6. Mud and quicksand. 7. Colonies of nesting birds. 8. Abandoned buildings and piers. 9. Caves, inlets and gullies. 10. Mudslides. 11. Wavecut platforms RISKS Match the eleven common hazards listed above to the following six risks. In each case decide which precautions you would take to prevent or reduce the risk of harm. a. Slips and falls resulting in sprains, broken bones and death. b. Exposure, wash off or drowning. c. Broken limbs and head or spinal injuries. d. Entrapment , exposure, hypothermia and drowning. e. Head injuries. f. Attack by birds resulting in cuts, abrasions or stunning.

PREPARE FOR YOUR FIELDWORK 1. Ensure that you are physically fit. 2. Buy the correct map before you go into the field 3. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the terrain. 4. Make sure you know how to use a compass in order to find your position on a map. 5. Find out what to do in an emergency. 6. Get basic first aid training. 7. Check the long range weather forecast. 8. Get prior permission to enter military training areas 9. Pack the appropriate clothing and equipment.

GENERAL PROCEDURES 1. Consult the local tide tables before you start working. 2. Ask about local conditions - above all about rates of incoming tides on wavecut platforms and mud flats 3. Leave a note at your base of the locations where you will be working, the estimated time of arrival at each location and expected time of return to base. 4. Keep to your itinerary. 5. Recognise there are risks associated with a range of hazards encountered when undertaking fieldwork in coastal areas and take appropriate measures to reduce these risks. 6. Never take unnecessary risks.

COMMON HAZARDS 1. Unstable rock faces. 2. Rock piles and rock waste tips. 3. Moving plant. 4. Rock blasting. 5. Conveyors and crushers. 6. Settling ponds and sludge lagoons. 7. Abandoned buildings. 8. Noise. 9. Overgrown areas. 10. Grassy slopes above steep rock faces. 11. Rusty or leaking containers. 12. Abandoned equipment.

PREPARE FOR YOUR FIELDWORK 1. Ensure that you are physically fit. 2. Buy the correct map before you go into the field 3. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the terrain. 4. Make sure you know how to use a compass in order to find your position on a map. 5. Find out what to do in an emergency. 6. Get basic first aid training. 7. Check the long range weather forecast. 8. Get prior permission for access to working and disused quarries and mines. 9. Pack the appropriate clothing and equipment.

GENERAL PROCEDURES 1. Leave a note at your base of the locations where you will be working, the estimated time of arrival at each location and expected time of return to base. 2. Keep to your itinerary. 3. Recognise there are risks associated with a range of hazards encountered when undertaking fieldwork in quaries and mines and take appropriate measures to reduce these risks. 4. Never take unnecessary risks. 5. Obey any specific instructions given by the site manager.

RISKS Match the twelve common hazards listed above to the following six risks. In each case decide which precautions you would take to prevent or reduce the risk of harm. a. Trips and falls resulting in sprains and broken bones. b. Sinking, entrapment or drowning in deep mud. c. Head injuries caused by falling rock fragments. d. Temporary of permanent deafness. e. Burns/contamination caused by contact with dangerous waste. f. Broken limbs and spinal or head injuries.