What is a ‘Suitable and Sufficient’ Risk Assessment?

A 'suitable and sufficient' assessment will:

identify significant foreseeable hazards using the Fieldwork Hazard Checklist (MS Word , 13kb) (including travel to and from the department) associated with your fieldtrip - remember, a risk assessment that is too cluttered with minor concerns will be discarded in the field as a bureaucrat's folly, and will devalue the whole process
evaluate the associated risks
identify appropriate control measures proportionate to the level of risk
reflect current knowledge of the activity
remain valid for the period of work

Much can be done to control risk by ensuring that:

a suitable number of supervisors is always present
supervisors are competent under the circumstances likely to be encountered and have adequate first aid training
all fieldworkers are adequately prepared (e.g. clothing, footwear, training)
suitable lines of communication are available
accidents (and dangerous occurrences) are reported and investigated.

Past experience of the worker in his/her proposed activity will have a major bearing on the perceived level of risk in the activity and the complexity of the risk assessment should reflect this.