Approval Process and Risk Assessment

The School uses the insurer's classification to categorise the risk levels of countries. These range from low to extreme. You can find out the risk levels for all countries via the insurer's assistance website. You should also check the FCDO Foreign Travel Advice website to see if the country being visited is under an advisory of "against all but essential travel" or "against all travel".

All travel should be discussed and agreed with your staff and students.

Low risk travel is travel to countries or areas that do not have a Foreign, Commowealth and Development Office (FCDO) advisory in place and where the insurance rating is Low.

Low risk travel is largely brief and straightforward: the associated risks do not involve ethical considerations, research or sensitive data. Once the traveller has completed the Travel Notification Form, travel will be approved by the Health and Safety Team.

Moderate risk travel is travel to countries or areas that do not have an FCDO advisory in place and where the insurance rating is Moderate.

Again, travel is largely brief and straight forward. Travellers may be asked to complete a risk assessment or give additional information about their trip to the Health and Safety Team. Travel will be approved by the Health and Safety Team.

High or extreme risk travel is travel to countries or areas that have an FCDO advisory in place of "against all but essential travel" or "against all travel", and/or where the insurance rating is High or Extreme.

Anyone planning to undertake travel to high and extreme risk locations should discuss this well in advance with their line manager, Head of Department or academic mentor. This is particularly important for students planning future research.

Risk assessments (TRAv5 Nov 2023) are required for all high and extreme risk travel. Research travel will also need a risk identification form to be completed. The traveller needs to get authorisation to travel from the line manager or Head of Department (HoD) for staff, and from the Academic Mentor for students before the risk assessment is submitted to Health and Safety. Authorisation can be a signature on the risk assessment or via an email to the Health and Safety Team.

Travellers may be asked to complete travel risk training before travel. Travellers to extreme risk locations will be expected to have completed training before trip documentation is submitted to the School Management Committee for approval. Travellers should contact the Health and Safety Team at the earliest opportunity to discuss their training needs.

At any stage of the approval process, the traveller, Academic Mentor, HoD or line manager may be asked to provide additional information regarding the trip to be aksed to consider altering aspects of the travel proposal, such as their research methodology, location, etc.

The process to approve High or Extreme Risk travel can take several weeks, particularly for Extreme risk travel. Please notify the Health and Safety Team at the earliest opportunity and, for research travel, at least 3 months before the traveller intends to depart.

Please note that approval to travel can be withdrawn if the safety or security situation deteriorates in the country or area you are planning to visit.

Risk Identification Form

The risk identification form is used to inform the traveller, Academic Mentor, HoD or line manager of the risk factor levels for the trip. Reasons should be given for the risk level selected. This example shows how the traveller has justified the risk level for each of the seven risk factors. 

Travel Risk Assessment Form

The travel risk assessment form (TRAv5 Nov 2023) is an in-depth assessment of the specific risks that a traveller may face during their trip, and provides details on how the risks will be managed.  This example shows the level of detail we require from travellers. It is strongly advised that all travellers undertake appropriate travel risk training which includes a module on risk assessment. Please direct travellers to the Health and Safety Team to discuss training needs at the earliest opportunity.

To help identify risks, our insurer provides travel security information via a separate website. Information on the how to access this information is sent to everyone completing the Notification to Travel form. Travellers can register on the insurer's website to research advice on the country they will be visiting, and can also sign up for security alerts. The insurer also provides a travel safety app so to access information or receive alerts on the move.

Travellers should use a number of sources to gather information for their risk assessments including fellow students or academic staff, in country contacts, research partners, NGOs etc. Please also direct them to the Useful Links section for more online resources. 

A number of countries, organisations and individuals are subject to sanctions or embargos. Sanctioned areas include, but are not limited to, Belarus, Crimea and Sebastopol region, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen . There may be restrictions on how the insurers can assist while travellers are in one of these areas. Travel to these countries is NOT covered by insurance unless sanctions approval has been given by the insurers for that specific trip.

If you have staff or students planning on travelling to any of the listed areas, the trip will have to go through the insurer's screening process to ensure the School and the insurer remain compliant with the imposed sanctions. Please ask travellers to contact the Health and Safety team for the Sanctions Form.

There are severe financial penalties for non-compliance which could affect securing travel insurance in the future. Travellers are expected to carry out their own checks prior to committing to travel. It is essential that all question are answered fully before the form is submitted to the insurer.  

Sanctions screening takes approximately 3 weeks, so please ensure travellers are aware that the Health and Safety team needs enough notice to process the application for insurance. 

Further information on sanctions can be found on the Gov.uk web page.  

If a traveller returns to their home country to carry out research they will still be asked to complete a risk assessment, particularly if their home country is under a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advisory or is identified as high risk by the School’s insurers.

If there is an intention to return to a home town/city or if the traveller intends to reside in their family home there may be restrictions in insurance cover particularly if they have been resident in the UK for less than 12 months or their trip will last for more than 12 months. In these cases the traveller needs to contact health.and.safey@lse.ac.uk to discuss insurance implications. 

Where students are applying for a PhD programme the Academic Mentor will need to consider the feasibility of the proposed research if it involves travelling to high risk destinations and/or the research subject is contentious or puts the student at risk of unwelcome attention from the authorities or others in the host location.

Factors to consider include:

• If the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advise against all travel to a destination there may be restrictions on insurance cover and assistance which can be provided. Insurance covers more than just medical assistance: if there is a shortfall in cover, LSE needs to be satisfied that the gap can be appropriately covered a different way.
• There may be an additional cost (premium) for any level of insurance cover – this is calculated by the insurers once they have all the details of a proposed trip. There is a new charge for every trip. LSE does not cover this cost centrally. Supervisors and travellers will need to consider how these costs would be funded.
• The risk assessment needs to go through the approval process which can take several weeks. 
• The level of travel safety training the traveller may require will depend on the risks arising from the planned research and destinations. Training will also help the traveller to carry out a better risk assessment.
• At application stage the Health and Safety Team are unable to predict the outcome of the approval process in advance. It is advisable to have a “Plan B”, or alternative topic/country/methodology in case the School does not accept the risk of the proposed research.