Security is a tricky area in our line of work - finding the balance between keeping everyone safe but also serving people in potentially risk prone areas with little infrastructure.  We tend to not prioritize it if we are in more stable countries where there is less conflict or chance of a natural disaster, even though aid workers are more likely to be in a car accident than be victim of a man-made attack.

So whose responsibility is it to keep you and your staff safe?  Although everyone is responsible for his/her security, it is ultimately the leaders of an organization that are responsible for creating a security culture, according to this episode’s guest, Security Advisor Maurice McQuillan.  Maurice has 14 years experience working in insecure environments in aid work, and has spent a lot of time advising leaders in minimizing risk.

In this episode Maurice has some great advice for leaders in aid work on how you can integrate security into your work and keep your team safe including:

• Why people break the rules

• How to motivate staff to understand and follow security guidelines

• How to mitigate risk versus reacting to it

• Useful tools to use to map security risk

• How to gauge a staff’s perception of risk

• Why hiring the right people is so important

• How to best support your staff in making decisions around security

• Why managers should manage security

Some tools and resources mentioned in this episode include:

Security Risk Analysis Tool (by ACT Alliance)

IRM Risk Culture Framework

EISF Guidelines:

• Security to Go Module

• Security Management and Capacity Development International Agencies Working with Local Partners

• Crisis Management of Critical Incidents

• Managing the Message: Communication and Media Management in a Security Crisis