RISK ASSESSMENT AND SECURITY PROCEDURES

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1 Organisations use a vast array of internal policies and procedures, but the most appropriate policies will always depend on the size and nature of the individual organisation. It is often ineffective to copy model policies, rather than taking time to develop them individually. Policies are effective if they are developed and reviewed on an ongoing basis with the involvement of staff, and are tailored to suit the specific needs of an organisation and its activities. However, some guidance and examples mean that you don t have to start from scratch. With this in mind NIDOS has provided a number of example generic policies which can be used as guides when developing your own policies. We hope that these example policies may help to save time in developing your own policies, but we stress that they are only examples and should not simply be copied. Disclaimer NIDOS accepts no responsibility for any third party loss or consequences arising from the use of these example policies. RISK ASSESSMENT AND SECURITY PROCEDURES Many organisations, particularly those that send volunteers overseas, will probably have need to develop policies and procedures specifically for overseas working in addition to the usual internal ones. The following documents provide some ideas for basic security and risk assessment procedures for use in connection with international volunteer placements. Security and risk assessment procedures may contain a number of steps as suggested below: 1. General procedures and checklist for creating risk assessments and security procedures 2. Assessing specific risks in a particular country or region 3. Drawing up specific risk assessments and security procedures for those countries or regions 4. Keeping procedures 2 and 3 (above) up-to-date 5. Periodically reviewing specific and general procedures 1. GENERAL PROCEDURES CHECKLIST This is a checklist of example questions that organisations may ask themselves when evaluating the security procedures in place for sending volunteers or staff overseas. It has been adapted from VSO s internal procedures. You may need to develop country or region specific procedures if working in different areas. Roles and Responsibilities Are all staff aware of their specific roles in managing security? Who has overall responsibility for security procedures in the organisation? Who has overall responsibility for security in a country/region? 1

2 Staff training Have all programme coordinating staff, field staff and relevant administrative staff completed the relevant training on security? How do you ensure this is kept up-to-date? Intelligence Gathering G Do coordinating staff consult relevant embassies/high commissions on security at least quarterly? Named post responsible: Is the programme office a member of an NGO forum on security or how do they secure information from such a forum? Where is the intelligence from these sources recorded? Security Briefings for Volunteers V What procedures are in place for regular (at least every arrival cycle) updates to the security briefing in volunteers briefing packs? How are these updates distributed to volunteers? How often is the travel and security advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office web page downloaded? (Monthly downloads are recommended) How is new security information made available to volunteers? Is this method effective? Placement Documentation D Are local risks explicitly documented in placement information? How are changes in local risks monitored and fed back to coordinating staff? British Volunteers V Are all UK volunteers registered with the British High Commission? Are programme coordination and field staff aware of British High Commission emergency evacuation procedures? Non-British Volunteers Are all non-uk volunteers registered with their own Embassies/Consulates? Is there a record of what emergency evacuation procedures the relevant non-british Embassies have in place for their nationals? In-country training Does in-country training include a session on security? For programme staff and for volunteers? Emergency Contacts List How often is the emergency contact list (including medical, embassy, volunteer contacts) updated? Quarterly? Six-monthly? Where is it stored? When was the last update? What procedures are in place to ensure that all volunteers and relevant staff members have the latest version of the emergency contacts list? Are these procedures working? Security Incident Reporting R Is the security incident reporting database being updated? How often? Does it include volunteers security concerns and security concerns arising from placement visits? 2

3 Annual Management Report Does the latest report provide a review of last year s security strategy? Was at least one volunteer involved in the annual review of the security strategy? Evacuation and Emergency Plans P When was the plan for evacuation and emergency procedures last updated? What types of emergencies does it cover? (There may be typical ones for each country) Where is it stored? Where is the plan for evacuation in the event of Avian Flu stored? 2. COUNTRY/REGION SPECIFIC RISKS It may be necessary to draw up separate check lists for each country or region, for example some countries or regions may be prone to particular risks such as: hurricanes earthquakes flooding conflict drug trafficking and other organised crime kidnapping political unrest human rights abuses Training for volunteers may also include country/region specific health and personal safety advice covering such things as infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS) and medical services, illegal substances, theft, the law and money. 3

4 3. EXAMPLE RISK ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK The form below is a simple framework for use in risk assessment exercises. It can be used to record each hazard identified under various sub-headings, along with the severity of the risk it presents and the measures which are implemented in order to mitigate the risk. Two examples of risks have been added in order to show how the template might be used. The severity or level of risk is calculated using the risk assessment matrix on the following page. Hazard Risk Control Measure Political Rapidly rising fuel prices could trigger anti-government protests in some parts of the partner country. Risk of injury or death if protests develop and lead to violent civil unrest Human & behavioural Areas of city in which volunteers work are quiet and muggings have been reported after dark. Environmental Health Travel Accommodation Work-related Vulnerability =3 Impact = 5 Risk level = 3 x 5 = 15 Risk of mugging Vulnerability = 4 Impact = 3 Risk level = 4 x 3 = 12 Situation monitored through local staff and volunteers, other NGO partners/networks, national news, embassies etc Volunteers already in country advised of situation and urged to avoid protests should they develop Volunteer pre-departure briefing includes specific information about economic/political sensitivities in the region and is regularly updated with new developments Procedures in place for when/how to go about postponing new arrivals of volunteers or evacuating current volunteers in the event of widespread civil unrest Volunteers advised through placement briefings of unsafe areas based on local intelligence and urged to avoid walking in these areas after dark. Placement briefing also includes advice on safer behaviour e.g. not carrying conspicuous money/valuables. Volunteers urged to seek advice from host organisations on safe forms of transport Volunteer accommodation not located in unsafe areas. 4

5 Risk Assessment Matrix This tool may be used to assess the severity of each risk identified in connection with an activity. The risk factor is the Impact of Threat multiplied by Vulnerability. If a risk is plotted in the lower left corner it has the minimum risk factor of 1 and in the top right, the maximum risk factor of 25. If the risk factor is above 9, measures should be put in place to mitigate the risk. If the risk factor is above 16, immediate action must be taken to minimise the risk or the activity should be stopped. 5 Very High 4 - High Impact of Threat 3 - Medium 2 - Low 1 Very Low 1 Very Low 2 - Low 3 - Medium Vulnerability 4 - High 5 Very High 4. UPDATES A system should be in place to keep the documents under step 3 and step 4 up-to-date 5. REVIEW Both the general procedures and the country/region specific procedures should be fully reviewed on a regular basis. These templates have been developed using risk assessment procedures from VSO and Challenges Worldwide. VSO is currently reviewing its security/risk assessment procedures and will make new documents available when the process is complete. 5