International travel risk assessments simplified

Lower risk international travel no longer needs a full risk assessment and line managers have the authority to sign off on less hazardous work trips, thanks to updates to the University’s travel risk assessment tool.

Changes to the travel risk assessment form, known as the TRA1 form, aim to reduce the administrative burden of organising international travel, while ensuring that higher risk travel is assessed appropriately.

The new form also applies to both staff and PhD students, bringing together in one place risk assessments for work travel and overseas study fieldtrips, avoiding duplication.

The main changes to be aware of are:

• Updated risk profiling categories with a wider range of choices to help us understand the levels of risk, from “low/medium/high” categories to “low/moderate/high/extreme”.
• Travel judged to be low or moderate risk will now be up to the traveller’s line manager to approve for risk assessment purposes.
• Low risk travel, such as travel to conferences in western Europe, no longer requires every section of risk assessment form to be completed - see guidance on TRA1 for info on when this applies.

The changes mean that we align with the best practice recommended by the Universities Safety and Health Association’s (USHA) and take account of feedback from colleagues, while still ensuring the University's duty of care to staff and students.

The University’s Travel Policy – which also has guidance on how to determine the most sustainable way to travel – has been slightly amended to reflect these changes.

Authorised travel risk assessment forms should be submitted with as much notice as possible, and no later than 21 days before the travel date. This is particularly important for moderate to extreme risk travel where additional insurance premiums might be needed.

Preparing for overseas work travel

Training is available to help you be more confident in assessing the risk of work travel, and to help you stay safe while working overseas.

Travel risk management training and fieldwork risk assessment training are available on UoRLearn.

If you require more specialist training for high-risk travel, such as hostile environment awareness training, please contact Wendy Manning in Health and Safety Services to discuss your requirements.

Coming up

More advice on managing risks associated with travelling abroad is on its way. Look out for updates on the Procurement travel pages, including:

• The relevant Health and Safety Code of Practice, Code of Practice 38 Overseas Travel, is being reviewed in light of these changes, and an updated version should be available in December 2024.
• The Travel Working Group is working with Digital Technology Services (DTS) to produce a fully electronic risk assessment form which will combine both TRA1 and fieldwork risk assessment. The Procurement team will update on this development as soon as possible.