Excursions and business trips at home and abroad

The employer or the principal must ensure that employees participate in a compulsory preventive measure at the TU Dortmund University's company medical service when working in the tropics, subtropics and during other stays abroad with particular climatic stress and risk of infection. Increased health risks and the associated special health burdens are generally to be assumed for stays in areas between 30 degrees north and south latitude. Participation in compulsory preventive care (medical consultation and possible examination/vaccination) is a prerequisite for travel. A consultation with a doctor (e.g. GP) who is not authorized in accordance with the German Employers' Liability Insurance Association principle G35 is not sufficient. Please arrange a consultation with the company medical service via Ms Schmidt.

Contents:

• Individual consultation regarding specific health risks
• Vaccinations for travel medicine if necessary

Vaccinations are recommended and, if necessary, carried out according to individual medical indications, taking into account the type and destination of the trip, length of stay, vaccination status and health status of the travelers.

The company medical service is available to TU Dortmund University employees for information. A risk assessment and advice should be given as early as possible, as full vaccination protection is only provided after waiting periods for various vaccinations.

The costs for the vaccines and, if necessary, malaria prophylaxis for the necessary business trip and the associated on-site activities will be charged to the respective areas of responsibility/departments/institutions. Employees are not permitted to share the costs of this. Of course, every employee has the free choice of doctor, however, in the case of advice from an external doctor (who must be authorized to provide occupational health care in accordance with principle G 35), only the reimbursement of vaccines or malaria prophylaxis is eligible for reimbursement. Any costs incurred for consultation or examination must then be borne by the person concerned.

If students take part in excursions abroad, according to the Unfallkasse NRW, a distinction must be made as to whether participation is mandatory as part of the course or whether alternatives are offered. Students are legally insured against accidents during compulsory events in connection with their studies and TU Dortmund University must therefore implement the necessary measures as part of the risk assessment to be drawn up. In individual cases, this may also include the need for vaccination protection or malaria prophylaxis.

In principle, a risk assessment must be carried out in advance by the person responsible at the teaching and research institution with regard to the travel destination and the associated increased health risks.

The risk assessment for the business trip or excursion project takes into account the following points, among others:

• Travel
• Length of stay and locations
• Living and nutritional situation on site
• Specific activities/tasks on site (e.g. participation in a congress is to be assessed differently to excavation work)
• Climatic stress/ altitude above sea level
• Infectious diseases
• Exposure to insects, parasites, poisonous animals
• ...

It must be clarified whether and to what extent these risks can be reduced by suitable measures; if necessary, suitable measures must be defined, e.g:

• Protective equipment
• Organization of suitable accommodation and food
• Emergency equipment
• Organization of external assistance

Sample risk assessments can be found in the service portal:

• Domestic excursions, trips
• Excursions and trips abroad

The service portal contains information and forms (mostly multilingual).

• Risk assessment and instruction for trips
• Occupational health precautions (mandatory!) for trips abroad with special climatic or hygienic conditions
• Business trips to destinations with comparable conditions to Germany
• Statutory accident insurance cover (excluding civil servants)
• Accident insurance cover for civil servants
• Information on TU travel health insurance abroad (incl. 24/7 emergency numbers)
• Trips abroad/excursions with students
• Emergency preparedness and management
• Dealing with travel warnings and safety instructions from the Federal Foreign Office
• Crisis preparedness list of the Federal Foreign Office

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