Foreign Activity Operations Guide

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Global Health and Safety

Providing for the health and safety of the Stanford community is of utmost importance to the University and resources are available to assist faculty/investigators in addressing global health and safety issues for their international activities. The following recommendations may be useful in project preparations:

  • Relevant health and safety information about the travel destination(s) such as required immunizations and related health precautions should be shared with project participants, as should the availability and quality of local health care and the travel destination's current political climate.

All participants should carefully review their health insurance policies for details regarding international coverage.

  • Faculty and staff traveling for Stanford on University business are covered under the University's Business Travel Accident Insurance.
  • U.S. citizens and permanent residents (U.S. nationals) should register their travel with the U.S. State Department. Similarly, foreign nationals should do the same with the embassy of their country of citizenship. In the event of an emergency, the State Department can use the registration information to assist U.S. nationals. The State Department also provides country-specific briefings that may be helpful to U.S. nationals in their travel preparations.
  • Stanford's International Travel Policy recommends against, but does not prohibit travel by faculty, staff or graduate students to countries where the U.S. Department of State has issued an official Travel Warning or where there is other reliable information about significant health or safety concerns in a country or region. It does, however, prohibit Stanford-affiliated travel to these areas for undergraduate students. The Office of Risk Management can be consulted for guidance in establishing health and safety protocols for challenging international locations. Where appropriate, Risk Management may require liability waivers.
  • Emergency protocols should be considered for potential crises (political instability, natural disaster, hostage situation, terrorist attack, etc.) in the foreign country. Guidance in developing emergency protocols can be obtained from Risk Management.
  • International projects involving students or a large number of participants may necessitate additional health and safety precautions.
  • • University supervisors, including faculty supervisors, are responsible for protecting the health and safety of employees and students under their supervision. See Health and Safety: Principles, Responsibilities and Practices at Research Policy Handbook 7.2).
  • Additional resources for gathering information on local conditions in a country include: