1.2 Role of safety and security management staff

Safety and security is everyone’s responsibility

Every individual staff member are responsible for:

• Understanding and following CARE’s safety and security policies and procedures
• Completing required training courses and implementing the skills and lessons learned
• Understanding the risks you may face in your work and providing your informed consent
• Promoting a safe and secure work environment and fostering a responsible and inclusive safety and security culture in the workplace
• Ensuring you are always demonstrating behaviours that build and strengthen positive reputations for yourself and CARE in the communities where you are working
• Raising any concerns that you have with your manager or your relevant safety and security staff member, and escalating these to the senior most person in your CARE entity if they are not addressed (the Country Director, or National Director/CEO/Executive Director)

Note: Security must be part of all team briefings and meetings.

A Safety and Security Officer must be attached to the emergency response team. The Safety and Security Officer will:

• assess if operating in particular areas can be done safely
• manage the safety and security of the team members
• provide ongoing monitoring of the context and the risks
• proactively adapt procedures and policies to the situation
• provide security briefings to managers and staff on a regular basis.

In countries where a Safety and Security Focal Point is already present, the emergency team’s Safety and Security Officer will have to work in a way that is consistent with existing policies and procedures, and will work closely with the existing focal point-in particular, to access their existing knowledge of the country and contacts.

In certain circumstances, especially in complex emergencies, additional support or technical expertise may be needed.