Safety trainings

HEAT - Hazardous Environment Awareness Training

DRC’s HEAT is a personal safety training in which participants will learn how to identify potential threats and adopt risk mitigation measures for reducing the likelihood of encountering local threats and the impact should a threat-related event occur. This course is designed for participants coming from a wide range of backgrounds with varied levels of experience for travel to hazardous and insecure contexts.

Course elements:

• Safety Risk Management and Tools
• Personal Safety – Mitigation and Response to Threats
• Radio and Phone Communications
• Travel, Convoy & Vehicle Safety
• Driving in Hostile Environments
• Coping with Capture
• Inter-personal Communication and Negotiation
• Mine and UXO Awareness
• Basic Trauma Management
• Mental Health and Wellbeing

HEAT is conducted in both a conference room setting and in field conditions including presentations, discussions, and simulation-based exercises. Participants should be ready to spend time outdoors in the prevailing weather conditions, move on foot for shorter distances in terrain, jump in and out of vehicles, dive for cover, and encounter stressful situations under the guidance and support of the course instructors.

We expect participants to be ready to start the course on the first day early in the morning and finish on the last day late in the afternoon, therefore we recommend that the participant arrives to the location of the course the day before and leave the day after. DRC HEATs are residential trainings and therefore the participant will stay on-site for the duration of the course.

Pre-screening of training needs, close mentoring and follow-up with every participant ensures that he/she is able to understand and react appropriately to risks and security threats.

Safety and security trainings of the Danish Refugee Council focus on how to stay and operate, rather than on how and when to leave. Proactive and non-aggressive measures form the basis of the Danish Refugee Council’s approach to safety and security, and thus the HEAT training.

See all HEAT training events here

Re-HEAT/HEIST– Refresher of Hazardous Environment Awareness Training & Hazardous Environment Individual Safety Training

The overall objective of the Refresher of Hazardous Environment Awareness Training & Hazardous Environmental Individual Safety Training (Re-HEAT/HEIST) is to re-prepare participants to understand and react to safety and security incidents in hostile or hazardous environments.

The two-day course is designed for participants who have previously completed a HEAT or HEIST and need a refresher of their knowledge and skills. The training is an opportunity for professionals to reflect on experiences with Hazardous Environment Awareness since completing the HEAT or HEIST. Re-HEAT/HEIST participants come with a wide range of backgrounds and occupations, however they have prior experience from the HEAT or HEIST training in common. Participants will be re-trained to recognize and mitigate potential threats and respond appropriately to various safety and security incidents. During the Re-HEAT/HEIST course you will learn techniques on how to "take control of chaos" through classroom sessions and practical exercises. The training courses are based on our experiences and knowledge of managing an international humanitarian organization with over 8000 employees working in around the world.

Pre-screening of training needs, close mentoring and follow-up with every participant ensures that he/she can understand and react appropriately to risks and security threats.

Safety and security training of the Danish Refugee Council focus on how to stay and operate, rather than on how and when to leave. Proactive and non-aggressive measures form the basis of the Danish Refugee Council’s approach to safety and security, and thus the Re-HEAT/HEIST training.

See all Re-HEAT/HEIST training events here

SMT - Safety Management Training

Overall objective of the course:

The training prepares the participant to take decisions on safety management and take initiative to improve safety planning. The participant learns to effectively apply safety policy using a safety risk management system to support the safety and welfare of staff and assets.

The course is targeted at International NGO managers, safety focal points, safety officers, and safety coordinators. It is based on safety management best practice for international NGOs. 

The training is delivered either as a physical classroom training or as an online training. Please notice in the training calendar if a specific training course is conducted in a physical setting or online.

Typical duties within safety management:

• Develop local safety rules
• Conduct pre-arrival briefings for travelers
• Attend to staff welfare and safety
• Conduct local safety drills and exercises
• Handle onboarding and management of guard service
• Advise management on appropriate safety risk management strategies and how to implement safety policy
• Develop and audit safety minimum operating standards
• Conduct safety risk assessment
• Respond to safety incidents
• Report and analyze safety incidents

See all SMT training events here

QST- Qualified Safety Trainer (Training of Trainers)

An in-person training of trainers course designed for preparing the learner to independently plan and deliver adult learning activities using Danish Refugee Council materials within the framework of a personal safety training certification and refresher course. This personal safety training, capacity strengthening course is open to non-DRC staff intending to run personal safety, security and basic medical training such as Hazardous/Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) within their respective humanitarian organization or similar.

Learning Modules:

• Adult Learning Styles
• Training Methods & Aids
• Learning Objectives, Aims & Training Goals
• How to Communicate Better
• Presentation Techniques
• Course Coordination
• Training of Trainers for Medical Component
• Use of Scenarios & Roleplay
• Contextualizing Training
• Running Simulation Practical Exercises
• Running Skills Building Practical Exercises
• Participant Management

We expect participants to be ready to start the course on the first day early in the morning and finish on the last day late in the afternoon, therefore we recommend that the participant arrives to the location of the course the day before and leave the day after. DRC QSTs are residential trainings and therefore the participant will stay on-site for the duration of the course.

Pre-screening of training needs, close mentoring and follow-up with every participant ensures that he/she is able to understand and react appropriately to risks and security threats.

See all QST Training Events here

IMT- Incident Management Teams

Overall purpose of the course:

The training prepares the participant to respond to a safety incident as a part of a local (typical country) incident management team of decision makers and specialist assembled to manage a serious safety incident or safety risk. E.g., rising tension in a country due to election, or armed groups start forming.

After the training, the participant also knows how a critical incident I.e., an abduction, a violent assault, a compound attack, a detention, or a complex medevac can be managed by a centralized regional team of decision makers relying on context familiarity and ability to read the contextual factors of risk landscape. And the participant knows how a global team of decision makers and specialist can manage an organizational safety risk crisis. i.e., pandemics, cyber-attacks, or critical incidents that take on a crisis form.

The incident management team's typical duties:

Response to serious incident through:

• Information management
• Communication
• Analysis

Contribution to:

• Critical incident response
• Crisis management

See all IMT training events here

FLS - Family Liaison Support Training

Overall purpose of the course:

The training prepares the participants to function as Family Liaison officers on behalf of an organization. The family liaison officers function as communication link between an organization’s critical incident management team and the relatives of a staff member who is unable to communicate, e.g. due to being hospitalized, abducted etc.

The training is a real time, face to face training, based on collaborative learning. Participants will participate in plenary sessions, task solving in groups, peer feedback, and participant presentations.

In the training there will be simulation and scenarios. These scenarios will be presented through picture, video, and sound. Real time roleplaying will be presented to the participant through the screen and speaker.
The training will be facilitated by a senior safety expert and a senior stress counsellor.

The training is based on critical incident management best practice for international NGOs.

The FLO’s typical duties:

• Maintains communication between the organization and the family.
• Manages family dynamics, their expectations, and fears.
• Defuses/prevents the family’s potential frustrations and worries.
• Helps prevent, rationalize family members solo initiatives that may be disruptive.
• Gathers helpful information from the family.
• The organization has a duty of care to the staff –ethically and legally.
• Prepares the family for the best – or worst.
• Follows up with the family and the organization after incident has ended.

See all FLS training events here