Those responsible for the teaching and research institutions or the leaders of excursions are responsible for organizing the trip and for complying with health and safety regulations. Participants must comply with the regulations.

In principle, those responsible at the teaching and research institutions must carry out a risk assessment in advance with regard to the destination and the associated increased health risks. In addition, further obligations must be complied with, e.g. in the context of emergency precautions.

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

• Arrival
• Duration and location of stay
• Housing and food situation on site
• Specific activities/tasks on site (e.g. participation in a congress should 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

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 therefore TU Dortmund University must implement the necessary measures as part of the risk assessment to be drawn up.

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