Health, Safety and Environment  (HSE) and the Field Research Activities Committee with assistance from the Faculty of ALES and SCI are organizing a Field Skills Day on Thursday, May 8th from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.  There will be skill stations set up in the green space on the northwest location of North Campus - see Google Map link). Participants will travel from station to station learning practical skills such as when and how to change a tire, using a compass, safety apps you can have on your phone,  tying down an ATV on a trailer, fire extinguisher training, de-escalation techniques, hands-on bear spray use and more.  This will be an all-day event designed to orient researchers with the skills that will help prepare them for field research. 

We are asking all participants to register for the session.  If a research group has new hires who would like to participate, their supervisor can register them in the form below.

If you are planning on working in the field in the near future and haven't taken the Field Research Safety Training,, please visit this page for more details.   Training certificates are valid for three years. 

If you have activities that are assessed at a risk level 2 (medium) to level 5 (Extreme), you are required to take both the eLearning and the in-Person training sessions.  Please register using the Google form.  Certificates will not be issued if participants don't register and attend.If you plan on working in the field shortly and haven't taken the Field Research Safety Training, please visit this page for more details.

The following in-person sessions will be held in 2-25 (Tamarack Room), Materials Management Building: 

March:  Wednesday, March 26, 9 am - 12 pm 

April:     Thursday, April 10, 9 am - 12 pm
              Wednesday, April 23, 9 am - 12 pm

May:      Tuesday, May 6,  9 am - 12 pm
               Wednesday, May 14,   9 am - 12 pm

*More sessions will be scheduled for later in the field season. 

If you can't attend in person (e.g. you are not in Edmonton or the surrounding area) do not register for the above sessions as there won't be an online/hybrid option. Instead, please email fieldoff@ualberta.ca to make alternative arrangements. 

After the tragic death of Dr. Maya Bhatia in August 2023, the university conducted an occupational health and safety investigation into Dr. Bhatia’s death. The university submitted the U of A report to the territorial regulator, the Nunavut and Northwest Territories Workers Safety and Compensation Committee (WSCC), as legally required under Nunavut’s Safety Act, in the fall of 2023.  

An applicant made an access to information request to the WSCC  for the release of the U of A investigation report and one witness statement that was submitted to them by another party. This access request was ultimately referred to the Nunavut privacy commissioner, who recommended its release.  At this point, the report is considered to be available upon request to the WSCC. 

The university has decided to provide the report and witness statement to those who wish to read them.  Following the direction of the privacy commissioner, the names of many of the individuals involved have been redacted to protect their privacy, and the university has applied redactions in the witness statement of very personal information to respect the privacy of those individuals.   If you wish to read the report, please send an email to hse.info@ualberta.ca. Any questions regarding the report can be directed to Michelle Rooker.

Emergency Management offers de-escalation training to University of Alberta staff and students free of charge. This one-hour session covers the training background, causes of escalated behaviour, intervention strategies, and resources available as well as practice activities.  This training was developed with the help of two Registered Nurses from Maskwacis.  The ideal class size is a minimum of 10 people.  If a research group has identified this hazard, email emergency@ualberta.ca for more information and course availability.

Wildfire season began on March 1 this year. This means that fire permits will be required for burning within the Forest Protection Area.

If you have research operations within 1 km of public land in Alberta from Mar. 1 to Nov. 30, the Industrial Wildfire Control Plan (IWCP) is a mandatory requirement under the Forest and Prairie Protection Act.

This plan provides information to Agriculture and Forestry where your employees are working full-time to increase employee safety in the event of a wildfire emergency.

The Alberta government requires companies that operate manned facilities on public land to create, update and activate Industrial Wildfire Control Plans. 

As a reminder  all IWCP’s have been made inactive as of Jan 1, 2025, and need to be updated and activated to ensure that Alberta Wildfire has the most accurate data to support wildfire priorities and life safety during fire season.

Find out more about the requirements for IWCPs and view user resources from the alberta.ca/firesmart web page.

For account-related changes (i.e. updating your official email address or company name) or applying for access to any new accounts, email aep.accountmgt@gov.ab.ca.

For all other user support inquiries for IWCP, please email aws.service@gov.ab.ca.

Currently, according to the Alberta Wildfire Map, there are seven active wildfires (four that have been carried over from last year), but all are under control. Please see this Field Incident Response page to learn resources researchers can access for the control of the hazards of wildfires. 

There are many fire bans or restrictions (Fire Ban Map) already in place for Alberta.  You can also check Alberta Provincial Parks website for fire bans in the provincial parks. Please respect these restrictions/bans as they are laws and fines can be given for not following.   Researchers can access this Alberta Government site to find active fire advisories, restrictions, bans, forest closures, off-highway vehicle restrictions and what activities are allowed. 

Photo Credit:  Dr. Anne McIntosh, Program Lead and Instructor, Augustana Costa Rican Field School 2025,  Students up early to do some bird watching on the canopy tower at the Osa Conservation Campus, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

The University of Alberta community has asked that HSE establish minimum safety requirements and protocols for planning, conducting, and managing field schools and field trips. These are minimum expectations, individual units may implement additional practices to address specific needs or risks associated with their activities. 

Please see HSE Field Schools and Field Trips Requirements.  This document refers to two new templates, one for international field schools (iFSSP) and an other for domestic field schools (dFSSP).  These requirements will fall under the Off-Campus and Travel Procedure, which is presently going through a governance approval process and will be fully implemented later in 2025.  We encourage Field School Program Leads to pilot the templates. If you have any questions, please email fieldoff@ualberta.ca.  

The first annual University of Alberta Research Security Day took place on March 21st and provided opportunities for members of the U of A community across all five campuses and at home to learn more about safeguarding research and the role of the Safeguarding Research Office. If you missed the event, visit this page to request support or ask for further information. 

Wilderness First Aid

When:  May 2 - 4 (F, SAT, SUN)  -  8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Where:  Biological Sciences Building/ Emily Murphy Park
Cost:     $350.00 

Chainsaw Training

When:  May 5 - 7  (M, T, W) -  8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Where:  UAlberta Botanic Gardens (close to Devon)
Cost:    Full 3-day course (including falling):  $1,000.00 (may decrease depending upon participation) 
2 day course (limbing and bucking):  $750.00 
1 day course (recertification and challenging exam):  $350.00

Mandatory firearms training (hands-on training from a third party, two days) has been organized for March and April. There are still spots available for the April training.  If you took the two-day course last year, you will only be required to participate in the range day this year as a refresher. This will be required before any firearms are brought to the field. Please contact Robert Mills for more information.   

Before the field season rush, it is wise to get in touch with Jeff Brady (825-963-0613). HSE Fleet Safety Advisor to arrange for driver training/evaluation and trailer training.  Call or email Jeff to set up this training and become a U of A authorized driver. 

All participants who use an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) for University business must be trained and competent. Jeff Brady, our Fleet Safety Advisor is also UofA's ATV instructor.  The following days have been booked for the spring:

Tuesday, May 13
Thursday, May 29
Thursday, June 19

When:   8:00 am - 4:00 pm
Where:  UAlberta South Campus (west of Saville Centre, Livestock Pavillion) - Google Map Location
Cost:     Free to University of Alberta Staff and Students
Pre-class requirement: All participants must take the  ATV Training online

Register by clicking the link below and select a date that works for you.