Procedures for and information on external placement courses and placements

Use the links below to get to the various sections that describe the procedures that apply and provides additional information about these courses.

• Conflict of interest situations in connection with placements
• Agreement between SLU and the placement host
• Who is authorised to sign the agreement?
• Work environment and reporting of accidents and incidents
• Equal terms
• Insurance cover
• Information/training for supervisors at the placement site
• Procedures for visits to placement sites

The rules that apply for courses with placement are described in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Conflict of interest situations in connection with placements

There is a general risk of conflict of interest situations in connection with placements. This could put the student in a vulnerable situation if, for example, they want to point out deficiencies at the placement site. One example is when teachers in a programme also run or have close links to commercial enterprises that offer placements. Students shall not carry out a placement at such an enterprise. Other conflict of interest situations may also arise, linked to family ties or employment. In order to avoid conflict of interest situations, the placement shall not be carried out at a site where the student has family ties. Nor should a student's placement be at a site where they are currently employed.

Conflict of interest situations are avoided by stating in the information sent to students and placement sites that the placement may not take place at an enterprise run by someone with whom the student has family ties, or at a site where the student is currently employed.

The department responsible for the course will conduct checks to ensure there is no conflict of interest, preferably by asking the student about this before the placement is approved. The responsible department is also responsible for investigating conflict of interest in relevant cases.

Agreement between SLU and the placement host

All agreements must include responsibility for the work environment in general and in the case of work environment incidents (near-misses, accidents, harassment), introduction of students, and insurance cover for students, both in Sweden and during visits abroad.

SLU has templates for agreements in Swedish and in English with placement hosts that should be used. The department responsible for the course will use the template as a starting point and supplement it with information about the placement course in question. Items highlighted in yellow in the template are instructions. Please remove these when you fill in the template. However, there is no requirement to use the template if the existing agreement already fulfils the requirements in terms of content.

Who is authorised to sign the agreement?

The person who signs the agreement on behalf of SLU must be authorised to enter into agreements with external parties as per the Delegation of Authority. The department responsible for the course is responsible for ensuring that a written agreement is drawn up and signed by the responsible manager or by the person appointed by the responsible manager.

It is also important that the person signing the agreement on behalf of the placement site has the authority to do so, in order for the agreement to be valid. This must be stated in the information that the department responsible for the course provides to the placement site. It is also advisable to ask about this when the agreement is drawn up.

Work environment and reporting of accidents and incidents

The placement host is responsible for the work environment at the placement site and for procedures in the event of work environment incidents. However, SLU has overarching responsibility for the students' work environment, including during placements. In the event of an accident or incident, a report must be made both to the placement host and via SLU's work environment information system (IA system). Students can report accidents or incidents themselves in the IA system, or contact their course coordinator, who will help them make the report.

Equal terms

The placement host is responsible for combating discrimination and promoting equal opportunities for students under the Discrimination Act. However, in the same way as for the work environment in general, SLU has overarching responsibility for ensuring that students on placement are protected against discrimination and given equal opportunities. Special information material has been drawn up for students, placement/study visit hosts, and teachers. Information on how students can report harassment is available on the student web.

Insurance cover

Students at SLU are covered by accident insurance, “Personal injury insurance for students”, with the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency. This provides students with insurance cover in the event of personal injury due to accident and illness through infection. The insurance applies when the student carries out a placement at a placement site in Sweden.

For placement outside of Sweden: If the student carries out a placement abroad within the framework of one of SLU's exchange agreements, the student is automatically covered by the collective insurance Student UT (SLU's Division of Educational Affairs is responsible for this insurance). If the placement does not take place within the framework of an exchange agreement and in cases of visits abroad during the placement period, special insurance must be taken out. The course-organising department at SLU that approved the placement is responsible for taking out and paying for the special insurance.

More information on student insurance is available in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook (section 3.7) and on the student web.

The University compensates private workplaces in Sweden or abroad for damages caused by the student. This is done by covering the costs of the excess or the actual amount. The handling of such cases is regulated in the Ordinance (1982:1077) on compensation from public funds for damages caused by students at public higher education institutions during placements at private workplaces.

SLU can bring a lawsuit against a student if the student has caused damages intentionally.

Information/training for supervisors at the placement site

The department responsible for the course is responsible for ensuring that information/training for supervisors at the placement site is offered in connection with each placement course.

The Unit for Educational Support Systems and Media at the Division of Learning and Digitalisation can help to create course rooms according to a template in Canvas that has been adapted to train supervisors at placement sites. The course room can be open or password protected. Ordering is done by emailing utb-system@slu.se.

The department responsible for the course needs to provide content for the course room. If adjustments need to be made to the template, please email canvas@slu.se.

Procedures for visits to placement sites

Physical visits to placement sites enable the department responsible for the course to better ensure the quality of the placement and assess the nature of the work environment. Site visits can be one of several opportunities for the course coordinator to maintain contact with the student during the placement period, and to identify any work environment problems.

However, conditions vary greatly between different placement courses in terms of the need for, as well as the possibility of, physical visits to placement sites. The need should be greatest for placement sites with more extensive training responsibilities and greater risks in the work environment. For regularly recurring placements within Sweden, it is desirable for site visits to be conducted every 3 years, if possible. For placements arranged on a one-off basis, and especially those in courses where the student is responsible for organising their own placement site, it is not usually possible or reasonable to conduct a site visit.

The course coordinator will determine when and if a visit should be made. The checklist below can be used as an aid in this.