Travel Risk Assessment Operation Manual

Transcription

1 Travel Risk Assessment Operation Manual This document contains information on how to use the travel risk assessment system. Overview Any member of staff who is planning to travel overseas on official University business should always complete a travel risk assessment (TRA) form, prior to any travel and/ or accommodation being booked. The travel risk assessment is an essential part of preparation for overseas travel and should be undertaken in advance of any trip. The University also has a duty of care to all staff who are planning on travelling overseas on University business and needs to be assured that travellers have fully considered any risks and have put appropriate precautions in place. The University has an established Overseas Travel Policy which is the basis of the process noted below. It should be noted that while there is a responsibility on staff members to assess their own risks and complete the risk assessment, there is also line manager/ supervisor responsibility to consider the risks arising from the proposed activity. The traveller s line manager should therefore assess the overall risks of the activity and the traveller should use these to inform their risk assessment submission. Supervisors and Line Managers should ensure that any proposed activity abroad has been subjected to a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and that the significant findings of the assessment together with the appropriate measures to reduce risks and hazards to health are recorded and communicated to the persons who will be involved in those activities. Please seek any further information or advice on this matter from your immediate line manager in the first instance. Until now the travel risk assessment process was undertaken using a paper based form in conjunction with s. The new system has digitised the paper based format and includes automation to help with managing the business process the forms apply to. Key Stakeholders There are four key stakeholders/operators involved in the online TRA process: (i) The traveller- the member of staff who is required to travel and complete the TRA; (ii) The Dean of School/ Director of Service the Deans and Directors are ultimately responsible for approving the TRA; (iii) The departmental administrator/ travel booker- the person responsible for booking travel and arranging accommodation; (iv) The traveller s immediate line manager/supervisor- while they do not have a direct role in the online approval process they are responsible for ensuring that the proposed activity has been subject to a thorough and comprehensive risk assessment. Any findings from this should feed into the traveller s own online risk assessment. 1

2 Process overview Anyone planning an overseas trip must first obtain a trip number from the persons or department responsible for organising travel. Once a trip number is obtained the travel risk assessment process can be started. The travel risk assessment should be completed by the person travelling, not the department administrator/ travel booker. The online form can be completed in one go or saved, and returned to at a later time to complete. Once a TRA is complete it can be submitted, if there is a problem with incomplete fields on the form the system will not let the submission take place. The traveller should consider any risks associated with the destination to which they are travelling to and should demonstrate that these are being mitigated accordingly. Additional information around vaccinations and documents required for the trip is also requested. The traveller should complete this, adding any additional information where relevant. Travellers should also consider the travel advice provided by the FCO when completing the online travel risk assessment. Where the FCO advises against all travel, the trip would not be approved. Once the form is complete, it should be submitted to the relevant Dean of School or Director of Service. Once successfully submitted, the Dean/ Director will be required to review the assessment and approve or reject it. If the Dean/ Director rejects a TRA they must state why it has been rejected. If the Dean/ Director approves the TRA, an notification is sent to the traveller advising that their trip has been approved. An notification is also sent to the relevant departmental administrator advising that the trip has been approved and that they can now proceed with making the necessary travel arrangements for the traveller. Completing the Travel Risk Assessment form The traveller s full name/ job title and department are auto filled by the system and this will be included when the form is initially opened. Deans of School/ Director of Service You should use the picker to find the relevant Dean of School/ Director of Service for your area. The Dean/ Director will ensure that the traveller is taking the necessary precautions associated with their trip. They will also ultimately be responsible for approving the trip. In order to add the Dean or Director to the form, you can either type the name and hit TAB to start the finding process or hit the eye glass symbol to open a full search box. If you use the tab method and there are no matches the box will turn red. 2

3 If the find is ambiguous you can left click it and narrow the option, if nothing is there when left click is used, you must click the eye glass symbol. To use the main search click the eye glass symbol, this opens a full search box. Type the search criteria and click the eye glass symbol In the results area, click the person you are trying to find and click Add, then Ok 3

4 Trip Number The trip number identified and supplied to you by your local departmental administrator/ travel booker should be added. The TRA cannot be completed without this information. Mobile Phone You should add the phone number that would be used to contact you whilst travelling; this will be used by the University to contact you in the event this is required. Passport Expiry Date You should add the expiry date of your passport, using the drop down list. This feature had been added so that travellers can ensure that they have sufficient time left on their passport for the country to which they are travelling. Some destinations require travellers to have at least 6 months duration on their passport when entering the country. Reason for trip You should use the drop down list to select your reason for travelling. This list is not exhaustive, so an 0ther option has been added. If you select other you should provide further details about the trip in the box that appears. Person Responsible for Booking your Trip The same process which has been used to select the Dean/ Director responsible for approving the trip should be used to identify and select the person responsible for making the relevant travel arrangements for the trip. This will normally be the local departmental administrator or personal/executive assistant. Adding Itinerary Items The itinerary outlines the destination (s), dates of travel and foreign contact details. This information is required in order to assist the University contact you in the event of an emergency and will help with the overall approval process. The itinerary card can be opened when the Add button is clicked. If your trip consists of more than one destination, multiple itinerary cards can be added and saved. As travel has not yet been finalised and booked, the information provided in the itinerary card represents a rough draft of the proposed travel. You must add at least one itinerary item before you are allowed to save a form. Click Add Fill out the required field as shown in red below and click Save 4

5 NB: You can edit view and delete an Itinerary item by double clicking the list in the main form Country The risk assessment is required for all overseas travel, which includes EU states. You should key in the first three letters of the country you are travelling to and the system will automatically pull up those countries with those letters in its title. You should then select the country from this list. 5

6 Start Date The start date is the date in which your travel to your destination begins; you should use the calendar control to choose a date. Double click the month and years to choose dates into the future without having wind through months End Date The end date is the last day you expect to be travelling; again you should use the calendar control to choose a date. Double click the month and years to choose dates into the future without having wind through months NB: The End Date will default to the Start Date once a start date is chosen, this makes it easier to enter the end date. 6

7 Risks The purpose of this section is to raise your awareness of potential risks while travelling. You should use the list to identify which hazards you may be at risk of when travelling or during your visit. You should show how likely these are to occur as far as you can estimate by selecting the appropriate box in the right hand column. The list is not exhaustive, but is designed to help you assess the potential risks of your trip. You will find useful information about the country you are visiting on the Foreign Office website. If the occurrence of any of these hazards would have a significant effect on your circumstances, then additional precautions may need to be discussed with your School/ Service and action taken. Each risk listed is measured by the likelihood of it actually happening, some countries carry a higher risk than others. The measures for each risk are: None No likelihood of the risk being realised in the country you are travelling in. Low There is a moderate likelihood of the risk being realised in the country you are travelling in. Medium There is as much chance of the risk being realised as there is not in the country you are travelling in. High It is highly likely that the identified risk will be realised in the country you are travelling in NB If any of the risks are rated as Medium or High by the traveller, a text area will appear next to the risk. The traveller will be required to provide further detail around what precautions they intend to put in place in order to prevent the risk from materialising. You will be unable to submit this form without adding this information. EU Documents EHIC You should indicate whether you have a valid EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). The EHIC is a card which is issued free of charge and allows anyone who is insured or covered by a statutory social security scheme of the EEA countries and Switzerland to receive medical treatment in another member state free or at a reduced cost, if that treatment becomes necessary during their visit (for example due to illness or an accident), or if they have a chronic pre-existing condition which required care such as kidney dialysis. Further information on the EHIC and the different methods on how you can apply for a card, can be found here. 7

8 NB: If your destination is outside the EU but you have flight transfers inside the EU you should still have a valid EHIC or other mitigating solution to cover any potential health costs that could be incurred in the country your transfer is conducted. Documents and Vaccinations This section had been included to ensure that all travellers have obtained the necessary documentations and vaccinations for their trip. You should click on the relevant box for each section. If you answer No to any of the questions in this section you will be required to provide further detail around this. For example, you may not have a valid visa for the country to which you are travelling, however, you may wish to state that this is something you plan to do. Emergency Contact Details You should fill in the details of the person you wish to be notified in the event of an emergency whilst abroad. NB: You must seek the permission of the person to allow this data to be used stating clearly what it is to be used for. This data is held in the TRA system, it is only used for purposes stated above. It is not shared with any other system or process. It can only be viewed by the individuals involved in the process or maintenance of the system in the context of the use or maintenance of the system. Confirmation Finally, the traveller should select the box to confirm that there are no travel advisories against any of the countries in their proposed itinerary. The University will always seek to follow the advice provided by the FCO- where their advice is not to travel, the travel will not be approved. The traveller should also check the box confirming that they have read and understood the University s travel and expenses policy. Submission As previously stated a form can be saved and revisited by the traveller. Required fields are not highlighted because they are not required in order to save a form. It is only when the form is submitted that any required fields that haven t been filled in will be revealed. They are represented with red borders as previously described. Once a form has successfully been submitted, the traveller cannot edit the form anymore and the automation process begins. Saved forms can be accessed through the link found here. 8

9 Deans of School/ Directors of Service Once a TRA is submitted the Dean or Director defined in the form will receive a notification of action from the system. The Dean/ Director is required to click on the link in the , this open a form which contains all the information from the form and an extra view to allow the Dean/ Director to approve or reject the TRA. This is shown in more detail in Annex B below. Using the drop down list in the Actions view the Line Manager can either select Approve or Reject. If the Line Manager choses reject they must enter information in the text that appears under the drop down list (shown above). This information will be included in the rejection communication to the traveller (Annex C). In the unlikely event that a TRA is rejected, the traveller will be required to complete and submit another TRA form. Links to the form are included in the reject notification. Traveller Notifications Once the TRA has been submitted for approval, the traveller will receive an notification as illustrated in Annex A. Assuming that the form has been completed correctly and any relevant additional information has been provided, the Dean/ Director should approve the form and the traveller will then receive a 9

10 notification advising (as shown in Annex D) them that the risk assessment form has been approved. This notification contains other information and useful links to help the traveller to prepare appropriately for their trip. While it is always recommended that the risk assessment is done in advance of any travel being booked, travellers should nevertheless keep a watching brief over the travel advice issued by the FCO for their destination of travel. If the travel advice should change for any reason, they should contact the Dean/ Director to advise them of this. Administrator/ Travel Booker Once the travel has been approved by the Dean/ Director, the administrator named in the form will receive an notification (as shown in Annex E) advising that the trip has been approved and that they can proceed with making the necessary travel arrangements for the traveller. The University recommends that all overseas travel is booked through its designated travel agent Key Travel. Using Key Travel ensures that the University has an accurate record of the location of staff and guarantees compliance with key HMRC guidelines with regards to expenses. Key Travel can also provide immediate and effective assistance to travellers in the event of an emergency e.g. social unrest, lost passports etc. Further information can be obtained from Procurement. Each completed and approved TRA is randomly assigned a TRA number. When a booking is made with Key Travel either over the phone or using their online booking tool, Key Travel will request this number- the travel booking will unable to be completed without this. Dashboards Each traveller will have their own unique dashboard, charting the TRAs they have submitted, which have been rejected and which have been approved. TRAs which have been submitted cannot be accessed, as changes to the data cannot be made. Travellers can, however access approved TRAs if required. Individual dashboards can be found via this link. Questions Should you have any questions with regards to the TRA you should contact either: Gillian Ingram Governance Officer, Risk & Governance OR Liz Young Head of Health & Safety 10

11 Annex A- Notification received by traveller once form has been sent to Dean/ Director for approval 11

12 Annex B- Notification sent to Dean/ Director requesting approval of TRA 12

13 Annex C- Travel reject notification 13

14 Annex D- Trip approval notification 14

15 Annex E- Notification sent to departmental administrator/ travel booker advising that arrangements with travel can proceed. 15

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