HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT
Field Safety Program
MacEwan’s Field Safety program provides clear guidance for safely planning off-campus academic and research activities.
When you’re ready to plan your field activity, the Field Safety Manual takes you through each step.
What is the Field Safety program?
This program applies to off-campus academic and research activities that may expose faculty, staff or students to risks beyond those typically found on campus.
Field activities often involve travel, changing environments and conditions that require additional planning. The program helps identify, assess and manage hazards such as extreme weather, remote locations, hazardous plants or wildlife and vehicle or equipment use.
Program focus
The Field Safety program focuses on the following:
- identifying and assessing hazards before work begins
- planning for emergencies and field communication
- ensuring appropriate safety controls and training are in place
The program also includes mandatory training on first aid, communication protocols and emergency response to ensure all participants have the necessary skills and resources to act decisively in a crisis.
Who the program applies to
The program is intended for principal investigators, faculty, and staff who plan, lead, or oversee off-campus academic or research activities, including those involving students.
- field research (domestic or international)
- academic field activities outside the Greater Edmonton Metropolitan Area
- activities lasting more than one day
- site visits, inspections or data collection
Activities not covered by this program
The Field Safety program does not apply to the following:
- conferences
- athletic teams or clubs
- day trips within the Greater Edmonton Metropolitan Area
- office-based work
These activities may still require safety planning or documentation under other MacEwan University programs.
What’s required
If the Field Safety program applies to the activity you’re planning, the following steps are required:
Complete a Field Safety Plan (FSP) for each field activity.
Complete a Hazard Assessment specific to the activity and location.
Complete a Daily Field-level Hazard Assessment each day while in the field.
These steps help identify risks early and ensure appropriate safety measures are in place before and during the activity.
Best practices
The following steps are not required, but they are strongly recommended to support safe field activities:
- Hold a pre-trip safety meeting with all participants.
- Hold a post-trip debrief to review what went well and identify improvements.
These practices help set clear expectations and support continuous improvement in field safety.
Getting started
When you’re ready to plan your field activity, the Field Safety Manual helps you do the following:
- Understand when the Field Safety program applies.
- Complete the Field Safety Plan and required hazard assessments.
- Use available templates and guidance documents.
- Complete daily field-level hazard assessments.
- Prepare for and conduct post-trip debriefs.
The manual includes clear instructions, examples and tools to support you from planning through completion.
Field trips within the Greater Edmonton Metropolitan Area for the day do not fall under the Field Safety program. However, certain steps should still be taken for these activities:
- Group trips require a Group Authorization form to be completed by the leader or academic staff organizing the field trip.
- Students must all sign a student waiver found under the travel management program.
- Complete a Hazard Assessment for the field trip.
- A Field Level Hazard Assessment may also be required at the field trip location.
Frequently asked questions
The Travel Management program must be followed when students, staff or faculty travel away from the university on university business. This may include training, conferences, professional development, field research, field trips and other scholarly activities.
To help determine what documentation is required when, please follow the decision tree here: Travel Management: What documentation do I need?
Field trips are typically one-day activities within the Greater Edmonton Metropolitan Area. They are part of regular coursework, usually involve a group of students and are led or supervised as part of a class.
Field research may be one day or longer, but it often takes place outside the Greater Edmonton Metropolitan Area. It is conducted as part of a principal investigator’s research and is not usually connected to course instruction. Because field research often involves higher or more complex risks, it requires additional planning and documentation.
Other helpful resources
Required documents
Guidance documents
- Field Communication Device Selection Guide
- Field Safety Hazard and Control Library
- Field Safety Emergency Response Library
- Field Safety Daily Briefing Checklist
- Unplanned Wildlife Encounter Risk Matrix
- Field Safety Checklist
Templates
- Daily Field Level Hazard Assessment Template
- Field Safety Lone Field Worker Emergency ID Armband
- Safe Standard Operating Procedure (SSOP) Template
- Emergency Communication Plan Procedure
- Field Safety Incident Information Collection for Third Party Reporting
- Participant Emergency Information Form
- Pre-trip Meeting Agenda Template
- Post-trip Debrief Meeting Agenda Template