Fieldwork offers extraordinary rewards, alongside significant risk to life and limb.  The collision of excitable scientists (often without formal risk-management and response training), young, inexperienced field crews, remote locales, unpredictable wildlife, disease vectors, driving, and weather combine to create a challenging environment for managing risk. 

Paleontologists are a delight, but it's interesting to observe how individuals who have dedicated their lives to the study of extinct creatures can display a heroic absence of personal survival instincts in the throes of scientific discovery. With 25 years of experience as a paramedic and motorsport safety professional operating in austere, high-risk environments, I have developed practical strategies for preparing and running safer field operations, targeted towards the specific needs and practices of the paleontology community, but with broader applicability across all field sciences.

Risk management can be approached with the same data-driven zeal usually reserved for science. “Paper Safe” safety plans that make lawyers happy, rarely make for safer expeditions. Using risk assessment matrices to quantify risk, and bowtie analysis to identify ways to prevent and mitigate consequences is a straightforward but effective approach that can be widely and rapidly adopted to improve field safety. A risk matrix provides the starting framework:

Likelihood × Consequence = Actual Risk

This simple model forces prioritization, distinguishing manageable annoyances from events capable of producing catastrophic outcomes. Once risks are classified, Bowtie analysis offers a clear, visual structure for control strategies. On the left side sit preventative barriers designed to stop the “Top Event.” At the center is the Top Event,  the thing that happens despite preventative measures. On the right side are mitigation measures aimed at reducing severity and limiting consequences.  Combining Bowtie analysis with a risk matrix provides a visual, barrier-based approach to managing major accident hazards. It maps threats, prevention barriers, the top event, mitigation barriers, and consequences in a single diagram. 

Building from these assessments, proper preparation, equipment, information, and a healthy dose of catastrophic thinking will save lives. I will share practical approaches to, and examples of, anticipating health risks, selecting appropriate medical equipment, and tailoring safety planning to both the environment and the team.