PFST ONLINE – Personal Field Security Training (Sécurité Personnelle sur le terrain)

This training is completed in 5 Half Days: morning sessions are happening on 14th, 16th, 18th, 21st and 23rd September (from 9am, Paris time).

This Personal Security Training for individuals working in the aid sector, developed by OSC, has a simple main goal: developing a set of tools for the participants to prepare effectively for the management of their personal security in their working environment.

More specifically, it is intended to provide:
• Awareness of the practical realities of managing personal security abroad in the frame of aid operations.
• Knowledge of basic tools for managing personal security abroad in the frame of aid operations.
• Skills for managing personal security abroad in the frame of aid operations.

These 3 components are used under the acronym AKS.

Audience: This training is suitable for every Humanitarian worker present in the field. This is an online training.

Training Criteria

Criteria for this program are participation based. This badge attests that the holder has attended all sessions in the program, including case study designed to test knowledge acquisition.

Active participation is attested by the Training team on the following basis:
• Active engagement through questions and comments or lessons learned from own experience
• Personal commitment, as evidenced by sharing lessons learned from own experience and participating candidly.
• Answers to quizzes at the end of theoretical sessions, designed to prompt self-awareness about one’s progress.

The badge holder has also demonstrated progress through the program in all three key course objectives:
• Awareness of key issues (preparedness, specificity of contexts, personal responsibility, interpersonal aspects), as evidenced through the various exercises and as evaluated by OSC’s Training team.
• Knowledge of key documents and principles (personal security, security strategies, security policy, security plans), as evidenced by the participant’s growing reference to them during the program.
• Understanding of basic skills (dealing with aggressive behavior) as evidenced during exercises.
Components of the training
To meet these objectives, the training course has four mutually reinforcing components:
• Theoretical sessions, aimed at consolidating methods (pre-departure checklist, do’s and don’ts in violent situations, etc.).
• Validation and feedback sessions (debriefings and key takeaways).
Different types of pedagogical tools and resources can be associated with these components.

Topics addressed
• Personal security principles
• Stress management
• Working together / Team work
• Communications
• Acute stress
• Security in buildings
• Movement security
• Orientation
• Personal risk assessment
• Incident reporting
• Hibernation, Evacuation, Relocation
• Sexual aggression
• Weapons in the field
• Hostage situation and kidnapping
• Dealing with aggressive behavior

Why this programme

The provision of pre-deployment security training is a major step in mitigating risk. Moreover, the outcomes of this programme meet the aid industry’s need to respond to a general demand for increased personal capacity/skills and donor requirements in regards to duty of care.

This training provides the participant with the following CHCF skills:
• Understanding humanitarian contexts, and applying humanitarian principles and standards.
• Operating safely and securely at all times.
• Managing in pressured and changing environment.

With the growth in the number of aid workers and the high turnover in aid agencies, security management training for all agencies is more than necessary.