It is important to consider your personal factors and the environment that you are operating within when assessing work or study related risks.
To properly assess the threats posed by the activity you plan to undertake you will need to discuss plans with your supervisor (or relevant equivalent) and/or your department from who you will be able to gain experienced opinions. It will be particularly important to conduct a thorough assessment of the risks and understand department/faculty specific regulations if you are proposing to undertake any practical work e.g. work with animals, industrial work, or if you will be undertaking controversial or sensitive research. The other factor that you should consider is that while you may be experienced in undertaking this type of work in Cambridge, conducting the same work or research may carry different levels of risk in a location that has different laws and health and safety requirements. If applicable, you will need to demonstrate how you propose to deal with this and also how you plan to be sensitive to other cultures as part of the course of your work or research, see Local Laws and Customs.
Community acceptance failure – work/topic of study generates tensions between the traveller and a local community resulting breakdown in the relationship. Potential secondary hazards or physical assault, detention, extortion. See the Local Laws and Customs section and consider the activities you plan to undertake within the region you are proposing to visit.
Practical work-related hazards – operating specific machinery/tools, working with potentially dangerous animals, working in remote locations etc. See Health and Accident – Travel and Personal.
Communication and data security - depending on the work that you are doing – do you need to ensure that methods of communication and storage are secure/encrypted? See Local Laws and Customs and consider the activities you plan to undertake within the region you are proposing to visit.
Lone working - the risk posed by lone working can differ greatly depending on your location, the type of work or nature of research that you will be undertaking and your own vulnerabilities, see Local Laws and Customs and Health.