The Importance of HR Management in Supporting Staff Working in Hazardous Environments

With statistics showing that nearly one third of deaths of humanitarian aid workers occur in the first three months of duty, it is vital that organisations place the utmost importance on ensuring the physical and emotional well-being of staff before, during and on completion of their assignment. As an area where security management and legislation ultimately converge, People In Aid recognises the critical role which HR management plays in emphasising the importance of duty of care. Maintaining a high standard of staff care is an essential duty for any HR department, therefore it is vital that human resource professionals in the humanitarian aid and security sector are involved in the design and implementation of risk management policies and practices. Recognising these facts and building on existing research undertaken to examine the role of HRM's role in risk management strategies, this report addresses key issues which are used as a framework to develop a more thorough analysis. These include such issues as:

• Risk Management and the responsibility of organisations
• The role of HRM and how to improve the role in risk management
• Duty of care and the legal responsibilities of organisations
• Transfer of knowledge involving lessons learnt
• Future trends and implications

By examining these factors in depth and finishing with recommendations for the next steps to take, the report makes a highly important contribution to reducing the psychological, financial, legal and human costs to which NGOs and their staff are regularly affected by and is essential reading for HR Managers within the humanitarian and development sector.