Security plans, procedures, movements and communications

1The security plan

The security plan translates the risk assessment into rules and responsibilities. It is short, practical, known to everyone and regularly reviewed. Typical contents:

• summary of the context and the main threats;
• strategy (mix of acceptance, protection, deterrence);
• security levels and associated measures;
• standard operating procedures (movements, sites, communications, visitors, cash, incidents);
• contingency plans (medical evacuation, hibernation, relocation, evacuation, kidnapping, attack);
• security organisation chart and emergency contacts;
• annexes: maps, staff lists, inventory of communications equipment.

Every new arrival receives a security briefing on arrival and signs to confirm they have read the plan. An 80-page plan that nobody has read protects nobody.

2Security levels

Most organisations use 4 or 5 security levels per area, each associated with automatic measures, which speeds up decisions in times of tension:

Moving from one level to another is decided by the country director, on the basis of indicators defined in advance (see week 2), and communicated immediately to everyone.

3Movement procedures

Movements are when staff are most exposed. Typical procedure:

• Prior authorisation according to the security level, based on a movement plan: route, timings, passengers, vehicles, contacts.
• Route check on the morning of travel: security forum, authorities, transporters, local staff.
• Vehicle checked and equipped: fuel, spare wheel, first aid kit, communications.
• Check-in calls at set intervals and at each key point; a clear procedure if a call is missed.
• Internal curfew: arrival before a set time, with a margin.
• Behaviour at checkpoints and in the event of a carjacking (no resistance, no photos, calm, cooperation).

Departure calculation. A 180 km journey at a realistic average speed of 40 km/h: 4 hours 30 minutes. Internal curfew 17:00, one-hour margin: planned arrival no later than 16:00. Departure no later than 11:30. With a check-in call every hour and on arrival: 5 calls. If a call is missed, the base tries to make contact again for 15 minutes, then triggers the missing vehicle procedure.

4Site security

Offices, residences, warehouses and distribution sites are assessed and given appropriate measures:

• Site selection: neighbourhood, surroundings (avoid proximity to potential targets: military buildings, sensitive ministries), two access routes, distance from flood-risk areas.
• Perimeter: wall or fence, gate, lighting, trained unarmed guards, visitor control.
• Building: solid doors and windows, safe room or shelter depending on the threats (room reinforced against intrusion, shelter against indirect fire).
• Fire and electrical safety: extinguishers, detectors, emergency exits.
• Stocks: water, food, fuel and medicines for hibernation (often 7 to 14 days).

Stock calculation. 12 people, 10-day hibernation: water at 4 litres per person per day for drinking and minimal use = 480 litres; with a 20% margin, about 580 litres. Food: 12 × 10 = 120 daily rations. Fuel for a generator at 2 litres per hour, 8 hours a day: 160 litres.

5Communications

The communications system must work when the mobile network is down, which often happens just when it is most needed. Principle of redundancy: at least two independent means.

• Mobile phone: convenient, but fragile and open to surveillance.
• HF radio: long range, independent of networks, but requires trained operators and licences.
• VHF radio: short range, ideal in town and in convoys, with repeaters.
• Satellite phone and satellite data terminals: independent, but expensive and sometimes regulated or viewed with suspicion by the authorities.
• GPS tracking devices with a panic button.

Rules: call signs, plain language but no sensitive information (no names, cash amounts or detailed routes over the radio), call tree (each manager calls a defined number of people), regular tests, chargers and back-up batteries. Communications are also an acceptance issue: using a radio or satellite phone where the authorities forbid it can lead to suspicions of spying.

6Procedures that are actually applied

Procedures often fail for simple reasons: too many of them, poorly known, impossible to apply, or bypassed out of habit. Good practice:

• Write few procedures, short ones, adapted to the real context, with the staff who will apply them.
• Explain them (the why) rather than just imposing them.
• Practise them: simulations of a missing vehicle, hibernation, medical evacuation, at least twice a year.
• Check them: spot checks of logbooks, check-in calls, visitor registers.
• Treat non-compliance as a management issue: a manager who bypasses procedures sets an example for the whole team.

Complacency is a risk in its own right: after months without incident, procedures slacken precisely when the context may tip over.