A safety and permission requirement in a fieldwork plan has three parts: a hazard (what could cause harm), a control (what lowers the risk) and a permission (who must agree before the work happens). This lesson teaches you to write these in a plan, using general planning language only.
It follows designing an observation record and comes before explaining the limits of inference. It never replaces the rules and supervision your school or exam centre arranges for a real visit.
How do you write a safety requirement?
- Describe the activity and place: what is happening, and where.
- Name the hazard: a specific thing in that setting.
- Say who might be affected.
- State a control: a planned action that lowers the risk, such as supervision, a briefing or a choice of a lower-risk site.
- State the permission: who agrees before the work starts.
Worked example
A class plans a street survey of pedestrian counts near a market, in the invented town of Bandar Teduh.
Step 1, activity and place: counting pedestrians for 5 minutes at 6 points along a pavement beside a busy road.
Step 2, hazard: passing traffic near the pavement edge.
Step 3, who is affected: students counting, and pedestrians nearby.
Step 4, control: work in supervised groups, stand away from the kerb, and brief everyone before starting. Use a quiet street if the plan allows.
Step 5, permission: the school approves the visit, parents or guardians are informed, and the teacher checks whether the local council or shop owners need to be told.
Step 6, privacy: count people without taking photographs of faces. If asking questions, say why and let people decline.
Written as one line in an answer: “Hazard: traffic. Control: supervised groups standing back from the kerb. Permission: school approval and parental notice.”
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is a vague line with no hazard or control.
Mistaken answer: “Students should be careful and stay safe.”
It does not name any hazard in this setting, so nothing can be checked or controlled.
The correction is to link each hazard to the setting and add a control: “Traffic beside the pavement: stand away from the kerb with a teacher supervising.”
Check yourself
1. For a beach survey with sun and waves, write one hazard and one control in the form hazard, control.
Show answer
For example: “Strong sun: wear a hat, bring water and take shade breaks.” Another: “Waves and a wet shoreline: stay in a supervised group and keep to the area the teacher sets.” Any hazard from the setting with a matching control is acceptable.
2. Who might need to give permission for a questionnaire in a shopping centre?
Show answer
The school (to approve the visit), the shopping centre management (for access) and each person (to agree to answer). Parents or guardians should also be informed.
3. Why is “be careful” not enough in an exam answer?
Show answer
It names no hazard and no control, so it gives the marker nothing specific to credit. A good answer links a particular hazard to a particular control.
Where this leads next
With a safe and permitted plan, you can move on to what the data can tell you. Continue to how sample design limits inference, and record any gaps in your planning in the mistake log and retest queue.
A teacher on online one-to-one Geography tuition can help you shape hazard and control answers from your own scenarios.