Pre-departure Briefing Session:
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Session Aims: By the end of this session we expect you to:
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Understand Lattitude’s policy and processes in relation
to managing risk and responding to incidents and be
familiar with how Lattitude will respond to more
common incidents
Understands how you will be supported by Lattitude
and your host at your placement
Have reflected on your main vulnerabilities overseas, be
aware of the common threats you may face and
understood advice for keeping safe and well and how to
reduce risk or respond to them
Lattitude’s Health, Safety and Security Policy is underpinned
by and informed by our Mission and Values. We aim to
balance independence and support appropriately to enable
young people to develop and enhance their life skills, personal
responsibilities and resilience
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Health, safety and security considerations are central to
everything we do
We base our practice on advice and guidance from relevant
governments including British FCO and Australian DFAT
We only work in countries and locations that are deemed as
safe to travel by those governments
We work with external H&S consultants to review and
improve our H&S framework
Context: understanding individual
vulnerability
It is important that you understand what could you vulnerable. What
examples can you think of?
• Many volunteers will be experiencing independent living for the first
time
• Volunteers will be a long way from home
• Placements are in unfamiliar environments
• Being from a different culture
• Some placements are in challenging locations
• Being female
• Standing out because of ethnicity
• Countries or locations can vary considerably in terms of
infrastructure and facilities
Health and Safety
Framework
Governance: Trustee Safety and Quality Committee

Senior Leadership Team: Lattitude Quality Standards

Polices and processes:
• Country, Placement and Event Risk Assessments
• Ladder of Support and Incident Management Framework
• Incident Reporting process
• Lattitude staffing
• Pre-departure preparation and in-country orientation
• Three-way Division of Responsibilities

Review
Duty of care is a legal
obligation imposed
on an individual or
organisation
Volunteers
are selected
requiring that they
and matched
adhere to a standard
Countries are
of reasonable care
Ongoing
risk assessed
support from
and
while performing
Lattitude and
placements
placement
acts (or omissions)
vetted
that present a
reasonably
Volunteers
foreseeable risk of
Supported
briefed for
on arrival
placement,
harm to others
through an
risks and
orientation
challenges
Keeping Safe & Well
• Personal Safety (including petty crime, money
and valuables)
• Relationships (including sexual assault)
• Transport
• Accommodation
• Water Safety
• Civil Unrest/Political Tension
• Terrorism
• Natural Disasters and Severe Weather
• Health Issues
Lattitude Ladder of Support
6. Lattitude CEO/Board
5. Regional Director
4. Country Manager
3. Local Representative
2. Placement Host
1. Volunteers, local staff and placement mentor
Why aren’t parents at the top of the list?
Think about who is best placed to help
Level 1 Issues
• Minor injuries or illness
• Unsure about things at your placement, including work role
and accommodation
• You need additional support to help you with your role
• Theft/loss of personal items
• Home sickness
 Talk to your placement mentor/host and if you need
further support contact your Lattitude Representative
Level 2 Incidents
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Medical treatment or hospital admission
You haven’t been seen or gone to work for 12 hours
There are issues around your work/attitude/well being
Adverse weather warnings
Security advice levels have changed in another part of the country
 Involve Lattitude
 Continue to communicate closely with your placement
 We work with you and your host to resolve the problem
 Your emergency contacts may get informed
Level 3 Serious Incidents
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Physical assault or safety incident
You have a serious health issue
You have breached the Code of Conduct
You may need to return home for personal reasons or misconduct
Emergency security incident or adverse weather near your locality
 We work with you to agree a plan of action
 Lattitude develops an Incident Plan
 Your emergency contact will be informed, if appropriate
 Lattitude sending office involved
 We continue to support you and monitor your well being
Level 4 Critical Incidents
• Natural disaster or terrorist incident directly affecting
volunteer
• Missing person
• Death or life-threatening incident
• Serious sexual assault
• Arrest
 Regional Director coordinates Critical Incident Plan
 Emergency contacts involved
 Lattitude sending office involved
Summary
• Your health, safety and welfare is of paramount importance
• Always follow Lattitude’s advice and the Code of Conduct
• You have responsibility for your own health and safety and
the choices/decisions you make will impact on your wellbeing
• Develop good communication with your host, familiarise
yourself with your local area and your local support structure
• Always keep your host informed especially if you are going to
be away from your placement
• We cannot support you out of your placement country
• Follow the Lattitude ‘Ladder of Support’
• Always ask questions and raise concerns
Recap of Aims
We would now expect you to:
• Understand Lattitude’s policy and processes in
relation to managing risk and responding to
incidents and be familiar with how Lattitude will
respond to more common incidents
• Understands how you will be supported by Lattitude
and your host at your placement
• Have reflected on your main vulnerabilities
overseas, be aware of the common threats you may
face and understood advice for keeping safe and
well and how to reduce risk or respond to them