FIELDWORK RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Section 1: General Information about your fieldwork trip
SCHOOL/DEPARTMEN
T:
Geography, on behalf of
the International
Conference of Historical
Geographers
COLLEGE:
CLES
DATE OF
ASSESSMENT:
SIGNATURE
OF ASSESSOR:
15/06/2015
CAMPUS
STREATHAM
PRINT NAME
OF ASSESSOR
NICOLA THOMAS
SIGNATURE
OF
SUPERVISOR:
PRINT NAME
OF
SUPERVISOR
RICHARD DENNIS
DESCRIPTION OF YOUR FIELDWORK TRIP:
Please describe in detail when and where you are going and what activities you plan to do whilst you
are there?
International Conference of Historical Geographers – Fieldtrip 13 – Victoria Street
The aim of this trip is to explore the modernity of late 19th- and early 20th-century London
through a close reading of a part of central London that rarely features in tourist guides, but
contains a variety of modern city spaces and places, both taken-for-granted and, in context,
spectacular. Although most of Victoria Street itself was subject to a second round of
redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, the streets in the immediate vicinity still display
copious evidence of the earlier modernity – mansion flats from the 1890s, model dwellings
dating back to the 1860s, luxury hotels, new office buildings, the bipartite (as featured in ‘The
Importance of Being Earnest’) Victoria Station, linking London to the Continent as well as to
the Suburbs, a new department store (providing the most tangible evidence of the area’s
‘imperial’ character), and a new cathedral, which, as evidence of a newly confident
Catholicism in late Victorian and Edwardian London, offers a counterpoint to interpretations
associating modernisation with secularisation, and, more practically, provides the vantage
point for a modernist view from on high. The walk starts and ends at St James’s Park
Underground Station, which dates from the first phase of underground railways in the 1860s,
subsequently rebuilt within another modernist icon, Charles Holden’s London Transport
headquarters (1927-29). The fieldtrip will include three extended stops:
A visit inside 55 Broadway (London Transport headquarters) to be led by Edmund Bird,
Heritage Advisor to the GLA & TfL;
A trip (by lift!) to the top of Westminster Cathedral tower, which affords spectacular views over
the surrounding area, including many of the ‘sites’ we will have seen from below during the
walk;
1
An approximately 2-hour visit to Westminster Archives Centre, one of the best equipped and
designed local archives in the UK, where we will get a behind-the-scenes tour and view
original sources related to the history of the street and its surroundings.
ESTIMATED No OF
STAFF AT RISK:
2
ESTIMATED No OF
PARTICIPANTS AT
RISK:
15
Section 2: Location of your fieldwork trip
Exact Location of your field work trip
Local / regional Area
UK based
Europe
Transatlantic
Current Home Office Security Level in the area(s) you will be visiting
Victoria Street tour: St James’s Park
Underground Station, Victoria Station, London
Transport
Headquarters, Westminster Cathedral Tower,
Westminster Archives Centre.
London
YES
NO
NO
N/A
Section 3: the Hazards involved in the work you are planning
Highlight the relevant hazards in the list below
Climate: Based in UK urban areas with potential exposure to sun, wind and rain. Temperatures could
fall between 13 and 28 degrees depending on weather conditions.
Terrain/Location:
Fieldtrip will be in urban location with sustained traffic on nearby streets. There may be uneven
pavements and steps.
The walking tour is entirely on foot (about 3-4 miles in total).
Participants will visit public buildings.
Biological: NONE
Chemical: NONE
Mechanical: NONE
Electrical: NONE
Human Activity: Participants will be in together in a group. This can mean that individuals cease
paying attention to their own safety.
Recreation: NONE
2
Work Procedures: Participants will be travelling as a group. We will be in an urban location so a
possible hazard could be assault or theft. People may have less awareness of their position and step
into the road or slip off pavements. There is a risk of injury in relation to trips and falls and accidents
involving cars.
Work Abroad: n/a
Other Stressors:
General: Pre-existing conditions, Food intolerance/allergy
Behaviour: Participants are adults from different countries. There may be unanticipated differences or
misunderstandings.
Legal problems: NA
Security: NA
3
Section 4 – Your assessment of the risks (Risk Assessment)
1
Hazard
number
What is the hazard (e.g.
low temperature, falling
rocks)
1.
(C)
Consequenc
e (1-5)
X
3
X
5
X
(L)
Likelihood
(1-5)
=
(RS)
Risk
Score
(1-25)
Action to be taken to control the risk (please list all
actions you will be taking)
Residual Risk (the remaining
risk once your controls are
put in place)
C
X
L
=
RS
2
=
5
1
x
1
= 1
1
=
5
Participants asked to carry water and weather
protection clothing (including sunscreen, hats and
wet weather gear).
Field leaders to carry sunscreen
Field leaders to remind participants to carry water
and apply sun cream at the start of the trip if they
are outside for significant time.
Participants warned about the risk; participants
reminded to use pavements and pedestrian
crossing points.
1
X
1
= 1
1
X
1
= 1
Climate: sun rain, wind exposure
2.
Terrain/Location:
Fieldtrip will be in urban
location with
sustained traffic on
nearby streets. There
maybe uneven
pavements and steps.
Participants will be warned about the distance of
the walking tour and reminded to wear
comfortable footwear.
Field leader to identify emergency exit codes in
any buildings visited and to alter participants to
these.
The walking tour is
entirely on foot and a
distance of
approximately 3-4 miles
will be covered in total.
Participants will visit
public buildings.
3.
5
Human activity:
Participants will be in
together in a group.
This can mean that
X
1
=
5
Participants alerted to risk.
Field leaders to alert participants of potential risks
and direct them clearly to safe routes.
4
individuals cease
paying attention to their
own safety.
Specific aspects
requiring attention
include disembarking
from transport and
crossing roads.
4.
5.
6.
Work Procedures: lack of
awareness, slipping in an
unfamiliar urban
environment. Lacking
attention to traffic.
General: Pre-existing
conditions, Food
intolerance/allergy, Foot
problems, Lack of fitness,
exhaustion.
Behaviour: Participants
are adults from different
countries. There may
be unanticipated
differences or
misunderstandings.
5
X
1
=
5
Participants warned about the risk; participants
reminded to use pavements and pedestrian
crossing points;
1
X
1
= 1
1
X
1
=
1
1
X
1
= 1
1
X
1
=
1
Participants asked to disclose pre-existing
medical /dietary conditions which may cause risk.
Participants have been asked to indicate dietary
requirements so allergic reactions are unlikely to
be a problem.
Field leaders will be reminded to call emergency
services should any need arise,
This is unlikely to cause difficulties as participants
share a common bond. Field leader to be aware
of group dynamics and to diffuse any tensions.
1
X
1
= 1
5
6