NHS Scotland Global Citizenship Doing It Well

Section 4 – Risk and Security

It is important to assess the risks you might face when you go to work abroad and consider if you are happy to accept them. The Foreign, Commmonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website has a five step approach to risk mitigation in their Duty of Care toolkit – see below.

Risk is the extent to which we are vulnerable to threats. Threats may relate to security, health and safety or legal issues and although they cannot be influenced, vulnerability to them can be reduced.

Five Steps to Risk Management:

1. Identify existing threats

Threats are external factors which may result in harm, injury, loss or damage to an individual, programme or organisation. A context assessment can be used to identify threats, looking at the political, social, economic and cultural background of a particular environment. This can be informed by previous visits or through partner discussions or research. While it is highly recommended to consult the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) website, local knowledge about the situation on the ground is also invaluable.

2. Look at patterns and trends

The nature of threats is likely to change over time and it is important to understand why in order to fully assess the partnership’s vulnerability to them.

3. Assess vulnerability

While threats are external factors, vulnerability is about exposure to, or the likelihood of encountering a threat. It can be managed internally and as vulnerability is reduced, so too is the risk. Within this step, look at factors affecting exposure to threats and identify those which are priorities. It is also important to identify your risk tolerance, which risks are acceptable and which need to be actively managed. In order to do the latter, it is common to assign each threat a rating from 1 to 5 pertaining to both its probability and potential impact. Multiplying these ratings together will give an overall Risk Rating out of a total possible 25. The higher the rating, the higher the priority.

4. Identify ways of reducing vulnerability

Reduced vulnerability will be achieved through the development of appropriate risk management strategies, policies and procedures. These should include measures to reduce the likelihood of threats materialising and to reduce the impact of those that do, as well as to transfer or share risk, or avoid it altogether. In all cases, measures should be put in place at both the organisational and individual level as appropriate.

Such strategies might include, but are not limited to, insurance, training, written procedure and checklists.

5. Assess whether the remaining level of risk is acceptable

While risk can never be completely eliminated, it is important for it to be proportional to the expected gains of the partnership. Having completed steps 1 to 4 and adopted appropriate risk management strategies, the partnership should be satisfied that the level of risk remaining is acceptable.

Source: Global Health Partnerships Duty of Care toolkit

Risk and Security Resources

There are several ways to look for information about crime and security risks in the country you will be working in:

• GOV.UK gives a good overview of the security risks in different countries in their section on foreign travel advice
• websites of local embassies provide details about security issues
• the WHO 2023 Global Status Report on Road Safety gives information on accident statistics around the world

Once in country it is important to know what to do in an emergency so make sure you know the contact details of the local emergency services (if available) or have someone you can contact if you need to. In advance of your journey, contact the local embassy in country to find out how you can register as soon as you arrive as they can provide help and assistance if you need it.

It is crucial to remain aware and alert to your new surroundings. Make sure you are familiar with local customs especially if you are in a country that is very different to where you are from.