Daily Trip Itineraries are meant to be a supplement to the Written Risk Assessment. They provide a mechanism for making others aware of your plans, as well as any actions they should take in the event that you don’t return when expected. Taking a few moments to record detailed information about your itinerary for the day, to consider the potential hazards unique to that day’s expected conditions and activities, and to establish check ins can save valuable time in the event of an accident.
Before you leave, prepare a written plan of your trip and leave it with a responsible party, who is referred to as the Field Coordinator. It is best to choose a field coordinator that is already familiar with the project, activities, and the field sites. Ideally, it should be the project PI or another person from your research group. If that’s not possible, a member of AL administration can also serve as the Field Coordinator. Selecting the most appropriate person for this job can save critical time during an emergency. Take steps to ensure that they are well informed about your work, the potential hazards associated with it, and recommended actions for them to take and people to contact in the event of an emergency or failure to check in or return. You may need to provide more detailed information to someone that is not actively involved with your project, so be sure to leave adequate preparation time. The Field Coordinator will serve as your lifeline, so the more informed and confident they are, the better.
We strongly recommend the use of a Daily Field Itinerary for your field work, which can be facilitated by the use of either of these form tools:
If you plan to make regular trips to the same locations, you may want to use the pdf version of this form and save a copy locally on your computer to re-use after you make minor modifications related to that day’s conditions or the personnel involved. Alternatively, you can make use of the online Google form, a summary of which will be emailed both to you and to the field coordinator that you have designated to be responsible for making sure you return when expected.
Researchers are also welcome to develop their own process for this step. Everyone is strongly encouraged to do SOMETHING to make others aware of your planned activities, work locations, and expected time of return. Taking this step is critical in ensuring that someone will take appropriate steps if you fail to return as expected, which will save critical time for emergency response.
At a minimum include the following:
- Your itinerary, including all locations, arrival and departure date, names, addresses, and phone numbers of all field work participants
- Emergency contact information for all participants
- Planned activities
- Local emergency contacts
- Communication plan with established check ins with the Field Coordinator
Strong lines of communication are critical to a safe and successful field research experience. Particular attention should be paid to items such as changes in the planned itinerary, changes in the hazard profile, a clear description of all research activities undertaken, as well as changes to areas of responsibility.
Having all of this information already documented and with you, as well as with the Field Coordinator, can save crucial time during an emergency.
Establishing a rigorous communication plan is another critical step in the planning process.