As an outcome of a Rapid Improvement Event recently undertaken involving members of the Travel Management Committee and Faculty-based staff and supported by the Getting in Shape team, the university has now rolled out a new streamlined Travel Risk Assessment process.

This new process has been put in place to reduce administrative requirements for travellers undertaking Low Risk trips.

Main changes to the new process include:

• Trips that are identified as Low Risk in the categories of ‘country’ (or are within the UK), as well as ‘activity’ and ‘individual’, and can be covered by the university’s Generic Travel Risk Assessment, need no additional Risk Assessment documentation to be completed. Once the Low Risk nature of the trip has been identified, the travel can immediately be booked through Key Travel. The traveller or booker must confirm this Low Risk categorisation of the trip in the ‘Pre-booking checklist’ when booking in Key Travel, along with confirmation that the relevant manager approval and insurance checks are in place.
• For trips to countries identified as Moderate, High or Severe Risk, or are considered Medium or High Risk in the ‘activity’ or ‘individual’ categories, then a Specific Travel Risk Assessment needs to be completed, signed off by Head of School or equivalent, and submitted to BR-TravelRiskAssess@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk. In cases of Moderate and Medium Risk, upon submission of the Risk Assessment, the travel can then be booked through Key Travel – no additional confirmation or approval is required.
• If the country is classified as High or Severe or the trip is considered a High Risk in either ‘activity’ or ‘individual’ categories, the Risk Assessment will then need to be authorised by the Registrar. This will be actioned by the Operational Resilience Team on receipt of the fully completed and approved Travel Risk Assessment. The outcome of this final approval stage will then be confirmed to the traveller or booker via email.
• Faculty PVC or PS Director sign-off is no longer required for any travel.

It is a university requirement that all staff/PGR student travel should be booked via the Key Travel system. If there are any exceptional circumstances, meaning that all or some of the travel cannot be booked through Key Travel, approval must be requested from the Travel team at travel@nottingham.ac.uk before any travel is booked.

Please also note that the UoN Insurance checklist should still be reviewed before booking travel.  If the trip does not comply with the insurance criteria outlined, the Insurance team must be contacted at insurance@nottingham.ac.uk to see if travel insurance can be arranged.

Full details of the new process can be found in the university’s Travel Guidance Document located on the Travel and Expenses workspace.