What is duty of care?
Duty of care is the responsibility an organization has to protect the people who work for it. It does not mean you must remove every risk. Humanitarian and development work carries risk by nature. It means you take reasonable steps to understand the risks, reduce them and prepare for the ones that remain.
The legal side differs by country and by type of contract, so check local law. The practical side is the same everywhere: people should go to work knowing what could go wrong and what the organization will do.
What do you owe your staff?
At a minimum:
- A clear understanding of the risks of their role and location.
- A briefing before they travel or start at a new site.
- Safe working conditions, including transport and housing where you provide them.
- A way to raise a concern and be heard.
- A plan for emergencies and medical evacuation where relevant.
- Support after a critical incident.
National and international staff face different risks, and the plan should reflect that. Our article on staff wellbeing covers the mental health side.
How do you assess risk?
- List the places and roles. For each site, note who works there and what they do.
- List the threats. Think about crime, conflict, road accidents, disease, natural hazards and workplace stress.
- Rate each threat. Use a simple scale for how likely it is and how serious it would be.
- Decide the controls. Write down what lowers the risk, such as movement rules, check-in times, vehicle checks or a curfew.
- Name an owner. One person owns each site’s plan and its review date.
What belongs in an emergency plan?
An emergency plan is useful only if someone can follow it at night with poor phone signal. Keep it short and specific:
| Element | What to record |
|---|---|
| Emergency sites | Meeting points and safe routes for each location |
| Communication tree | Who calls whom, and a backup for each person |
| Wardens | Named people with a role in an evacuation or drill |
| Emergency contacts | A current contact for every staff member |
| Drills | The date, who took part and what you learned |
Ask staff to update their emergency contact on a set cycle, and remind anyone who has not filed one. A plan with out-of-date numbers fails when it matters.
Why does the record matter?
After an incident, the first question is often “what did the organization do beforehand?” Without records, you rely on memory. Keep risk assessments, briefing dates, drill records, contact updates and incident notes with dates. This protects staff, who can see you acted, and it protects the organization in front of donors and insurers.
How often should you review?
Review at least once a year, and after any incident, new site, security change or change in a person’s role. Review after a drill too, and fix what failed. Keep a short list of open actions with owners.
Who does what?
Duty of care fails when everyone assumes someone else has it. Write the split down:
- Senior leaders approve the policy, fund the plans and act on serious risks.
- Country or office heads own each site’s risk assessment and emergency plan.
- Line managers brief their staff, watch for strain and report incidents.
- HR keeps emergency contacts, medical and insurance details and training records current.
- Staff follow the rules, report incidents and near misses, and tell the organization when their details change.
Near misses matter. A vehicle that nearly crashed or a threat that came to nothing is a free lesson. Ask staff to report them without fear of blame, and use them to update the plan.
Also think about people who travel for short periods, who work from home, or who work late. They fall between the cracks of site plans. A short travel briefing and a check-in routine cover most of the gap.
Finally, test your plan. A drill that finds a wrong phone number is a success. Run at least one drill a year per site, write down what went wrong, assign each fix to a person, and check it was done. Share the lessons with every site, since a fault found in one office may exist in others.
Where EMPOBase fits
EMPOBase has Duty of Care and Emergency Planning in the People & HR module. It holds emergency sites with routes and communication trees, wardens, drill records, an organization readiness checklist, and reminders to staff who have not filed an emergency contact. It does not replace a security adviser or tell you what the risks are in a place, so your team still assesses those. See the platform page or the documentation.