Egypt health and safety information

Risk is inherent in everything that we do in life. Without accepting and understanding these risks, we would not be able to do anything at all. The first concern of all activities undertaken as part of Operation Wallacea expeditions is to gain an understanding of the environments we will be working in, and from this to reduce risk to health and safety as far as is possible. These pages are devoted to explaining our approach to health and safety, and to giving as much advice as we are responsibly able.

Health & safety documents Risk Assessments Medical and Evacuation Procedures Health and Safety Information for Local Education Authorities 2011 Health and Safety Report BS8848 compliance document Dive Standards and Procedures

After an independent assessment Operation Wallacea has been awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom badge for safety and quality.

Operation Wallacea's Approach to Health and Safety

1. Provision of relevant health and safety information to all volunteers before they arrive in Egypt

• All volunteers are provided with information on the immunisations and prophylactic medications required before they join the project.
• Information is also provided on necessary equipment for activities such as trekking and staying in the desert.

2. Ensuring that appropriate qualified and experienced staff are employed on the project and that all field staff and group leaders are trained in the safe operation procedures.

• All staff have to go through an site induction course which includes training in the relevant procedures.
•  Auditing of operating procedures on a regular basis at each camp followed by meetings of all relevant staff to identify corrective actions needed.

3. Identification of the risks associated with activities and locations, as well as the development of measures to minimise these risks

• Risk assessments are produced by the relevant staff for each location visited (dive site, desert camp sites etc) activity undertaken (eg diving, trekking, etc) as well as specific research project associated risks.
• Staff are required to consult these reports before visiting a new site, undertaking a new activity or participating in a new project.  The risk assessments are continually evaluated and updated.

4. Development and implementation of safe operating procedures for each of the activities undertaken

• Procedures to ensure trekking teams remain in contact with all the members of the group are practiced by ensuring the slowest volunteer is put at the front of the trek, all volunteers and staff carry whistles and torches and that there is a staff member at the front and the back of each trek line.
• Sign out/in procedures for all groups leaving camps have been put into position.
• Additional procedures cover aspects such as safe diving, hygiene, snorkelling and swimming and many other aspects
• All diving is carried out in accordance with the strict procedures.

5.Ensuring there are adequate communication, medical and evacuation procedures in position

• The St Katherine and Bedouin Camp at Dahab are in telephone contact.
• All teams working in the desert have to carry a satellite phone and ensure regular check in calls with GPS location and condition of the trekking team.
• The mobile desert teams have a qualified Medical Officer and medical supplies.
• There is always a safety vehicle with all dive teams since all diving is done from the shore. All vehicles carry a First Aid kit, an oxygen supply and delivery system capable of administering oxygen for sufficient time for the patient to be transferred to the recompression chamber and medical centre at Dahab.
• The Senior Dive Instructor is responsible for ensuring that all the medical kits and oxygen bottles are replenished as necessary.
• Evacuation plans for emergency priority evacuations have been developed for each of the sites.  Evacuation plans for High Priority (fastest overland route to a hospital) and Medium Priority (most convenient and comfortable overland route) have also been developed for each site and will be practiced before the start of the season.

6. Training of all volunteers on arrival in the safe operating procedures, and acquainting them with the medical facilities available

•  All volunteers on arrival are given a general health and safety briefing.
•  Additional briefings are given by leaders as the volunteers join new projects or visit new areas

7. Recording all illnesses, accidents, near-misses or incidents which may have a bearing on health and safety and using this information as part of an ongoing refinement of the operating procedures.

• The Expedition Coordinator will keep records on accident and 'near miss' data reported by various staff as well as illnesses, in order to compile an accident and illness report (see 2008 health and safety report)

General Travel and Health Advice for Egypt
It is worth checking the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office or the  US State Departments' web pages on travel advice to Egypt.  Both stress that most visits to the country are trouble free but that there is a risk of terrorist attacks in the country. These have in the past been targeted towards tourist areas, and as a direct result Operation Wallacea are ensuring that an absolute minimum time will be spent in the area of Sharm El Sheikh during the Egypt Expedition. Please see the recently updated risk assessments for more information.

Public hygiene in the Bedouin Camp at Dahab and St Katherine is generally reasonably good. However, all drinking water is bottled mineral water and/or boiled water. 

Vaccinations
You must consult your GP or travel clinic for personal advice and it is also worth checking the NaTHNaC web site for up to date advice. Operation Wallacea are not able to give official advice on inoculations. Some people are not able to have certain vaccinations, so blanket generalisations should not be made.

We require you to be up-to-date with the following inoculations:

• Tetanus
• Typhoid
• Hepatitis A
• Polio
• Rabies - Volunteers should not be handling any small mammals or bats and as a result will not be particularly exposed to rabies. Those volunteers who wish to work closely with these teams in order to learn how to process the captured animals, will need to have the full course of 3 rabies injections prior to joining the expedition.
• Malaria - There is no malaria in any of the areas where you will be staying and prophylaxis is not necessary.  In general a yellow fever vaccination certificate is not needed but if you are travelling from one of the following countries then you will need one: Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Surinam, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela and all countries in mainland Africa south of the Sahara with the exception of Lesotho, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe (and including Chad, Mali and Niger); Sudan, São Tomé e Principe. Those arriving in transit from such areas without a certificate will be detained at the airport until their onward flight departs.

Physical Fitness
The level of fitness required to participate in the research programme varies depending on the site at which you will be based.  The most strenuous part of the expedition is participating in the mobile desert teams and you will need to be able to walk for up to 3 hours in temperatures as high as 30 degrees Celsius with a light backpack.  At the marine site the exercise is more in the water and you will be walking only very short distances in the much greater temperatures encountered at sea level.  Before you join the project it is well worth starting a fitness routine so that you can get to the level required for the site at which you will be based.  You will still have to acclimatise to the higher temperatures though when you arrive!