PostCOVID user research needs a revised safeguarding plan

"A story from the field: the day safeguarding became real During a discovery project, I was visiting education settings across England to run in‑person research. That meant working inside real-world constraints: safeguarding processes, visitor protocols, staff availability, young people moving through corridors, rooms that suddenly became unavailable, and the constant awareness that you're a guest in someone else's environment."

"At one site, we were told (almost casually) that more than half the staff were off sick with COVID, and another bug was doing the rounds. The cherry on top was that we were crammed into a small basement room that was colder than the rest of the building, so no ventilation, and a very high chance of catching whatever was circulating."

"Two days later, I was ill. I stayed ill for weeks. I couldn't take sick leave due to tight deadlines and stakeholders picking on any leave taken as "delaying the project". That was my reminder that: Safeguarding isn't only about what happens in the session. It's also about what happens around the session: infection risk, travel load, lone working, fatigue, access, and the logistics nobody puts on the Gantt chart, including allowance for sick leave."

"And if you think that's "just wellbeing" ...well, it isn't. It's research quality. When researchers are depleted, rushed, anxious about getting to the next site, or taking avoidable health risks, the work gets worse. Decision-making gets shakier, debriefs get skipped, boundaries blur, and the conditions for ethical, high-quality research quietly erode."

During in-person research in education settings, researchers encounter real-world constraints such as safeguarding processes, visitor protocols, staff availability, moving young people, room unavailability, and the constant awareness of being a guest. High local illness rates and cramped, poorly ventilated spaces increase infection risk. Researchers pressured by tight deadlines may avoid taking sick leave, prolonging illness and risking others. Safeguarding must include infection control, travel load, lone working, fatigue, access, and allowances for sick leave. Research quality and ethics deteriorate when researchers are depleted: decision-making weakens, debriefs are skipped, boundaries blur, and conditions for high-quality research erode.

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