Risk Assessments – further information
Keeping yourself safe while doing your research is important.
In principle, all students and staff doing research outside of Cambridge should submit a risk assessment. In addition, there may be some forms of research (such as online interviews or participating in online forums) which may also carry risk to the researcher and require a risk assessment. If you are not sure about whether your research requires this, you should discuss this with your supervisor (for students) or with the chair of the ERF committee (for staff).
A risk assessment examines the potential risks involved in your research and how you will mitigate them in order to protect yourself.
Important elements to consider are:
- risk of physical threat or abuse
- risk of psychological trauma, as a result of actual or threatened violence or the nature of what is disclosed during the interaction
- risk of being in a comprising situation, in which there might be accusations of improper behaviour
- increased exposure to risks of everyday life and social interaction, such as road accidents and infectious illness
Risk Assessment procedure
The risk assessment procedure is designed to ensure there is appropriate risk management in place for the activities of students and staff. The Department works with a broad notion of risk and as such, risk assessments are required for all research outside of Cambridge for more than one day at a time. There may also be research that does not involve travel outside of Cambridge, but may still involve risk and therefore require a risk assessment, for example, participation in internet forums or conducting online interviews.
The University distinguishes between three levels of risk: low, medium and high. For further guidance, on what constitutes risk at each level please view the risk rating table.
As indicated in the table, the risk is primarily based on the travel advice given by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). In order to establish the risk rating to the area you are travelling to, please visit their website for foreign travel advice.
Note, however, that a FCDO ‘green’ rating does not automatically imply that a ‘low risk’ option can be selected. Only if the type of work involved does not pose any more risk than studying and researching in Cambridge is a ‘low risk’ form appropriate.
If it is unclear whether your research requires a risk assessment or which level of risk applies to your case, please discuss this with your supervisor (for students) or the Chair of the ERF Committee - ERF@polis.cam.ac.uk (for staff).
Postgraduate Students
For postgraduate students, the risk assessment is included in the general online application, and questions in this application will ask you to indicate that you need a risk assessment and then guide you to the relevant form.
Undergraduate Students and Staff
For undergraduate students and staff members, the chosen level of risk determines which form to use. The relevant form can be selected from the link below:
Travel Risk Assessment Forms | Safeguarding Work Away (cam.ac.uk)
No research applied for should be undertaken unless approval has been granted by the Ethics, Risk and Fieldwork committee.
Risk Assessment training and further information
The training provided in the link below is aimed at students to help them produce a comprehensive risk assessment which will then be reviewed by the ERF Committee.
N.B. First year PhD students are required to do this training as part of their programme. This must be completed prior to the First Year Registration exercise and confirmation of completion must be added to your Student Progress Log.
https://www.safeguarding.admin.cam.ac.uk/risk-assessment-training-video
There is also a guidance document with lots of information and links to also assist in this process.
Another good source for further guidance on risk is the Good Practice Guide by the Social Research Association.