Health & Safety
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.
Operation Wallacea's Approach to Health and Safety
Operation Wallacea has a seven point health & safety policy which is
reproduced below together with notes on how each of these policy points are
implemented:
1.
Provision of relevant health and safety information to all volunteers
before they arrive in Honduras
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All volunteers
are provided with information on the immunisations and prophylactic medications
required before they join the project.
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Information is
also provided on necessary equipment for activities such as trekking and staying
in the forest.
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 operating
procedures.
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All staff have to go through an on site induction course
which includes training in the relevant procedures.
} Auditing of operating procedures on a monthly 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.
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Risk assessments are produced by the relevant staff for each
location visited (dive site, forest base camp, trek location) activity
undertaken (eg diving, trekking, etc) as well as specific research project
associated risks.
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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
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Procedures to ensure trekking teams remain in contact with
all the members of the group are practised 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 and search and recovery procedures for teams missing return
and contact deadlines.
} Additional procedures cover aspects such as safe driving,
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
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The main bases in the forest and at Cayo Menor, Rio Esteban and
Utila, the transport
boats to and from the Cayos Cochinos, and the vehicles moving volunteers between
camps all have radio and/or handphone contact.
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All boats leaving
the Cayo Menor, Rio Esteban or Utila bases have VHF radios and a check in check out procedure for each
journey. These radios can communicate with the research centre in the
event of an emergency.
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All teams working
in the forest have to carry a radio and check in and out when
operating from the forest base camps.
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Each of the camps
has a qualified Medical Officer and extensive medical supplies.
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All teams leaving
these camps have to carry a First Aid kit with them.
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All dive boats
have to carry a First Aid kit, an oxygen supply and delivery system capable of
administering oxygen for sufficient time for the boat to return to the dive base. The Cayo Menor,
Utila and Rio Esteban bases have large oxygen bottles with an adequate
supply for evacuating two patients to recompression facilities in Roatan or
Utila. All dive staff supervising dives have been trained in oxygen administration.
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The Medical
Officer is responsible for ensuring that all the medical kits and oxygen bottles
are replenished as necessary.
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There are
hospitals with good facilities for most possible injuries (eg broken bones,
dehydration, snake bites, tropical diseases) in La Ceiba approximately 1 hour by
speed boat from the marine sites and San Pedro Sula
(approximately 2 hrs from Cusuco and Paraiso base camps)
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Evacuation plans for High Priority emergency evacuations
(normally by helicopter but in some cases in conjunction with overland routes)
have been developed for each of the sites. Evacuation plans for Medium Priority (fastest overland route to a
hospital) and Low Priority (most convenient and comfortable overland route) have
also been developed for each site and will be practised 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.
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All volunteers on
arrival are given a general health and safety briefing.
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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 Medical Officers keep detailed confidential medical records on all staff and volunteers, which are used in combination with accident and 'near miss' data reported by various staff, in compiling accident and illness reports.
It is worth checking the UK
Foreign & Commonwealth Office or the US
State Departments' web pages on travel advice to Honduras. Both
stress that most visits to the country are trouble free but that petty and
occasionally, violent crime can be a problem in the country. The sites where you will be based on the Op Wall
expeditions are remote and relatively unpopulated, so this is not likely to be an issue.
However we always monitor the various government advice on travel to
different areas of Honduras and will react accordingly should travel be
deemed unsafe to any of the project locations. The main risk from crime is when you
are travelling to and from the sites and you will be accompanied at all times on
these journeys by experienced Operation Wallacea staff.
The FCO also states that 'the terrorism threat is low, but you should be aware of indiscriminate attacks from terrorists in public places ..... throughout the world'. We are continually monitoring the situation in Honduras and will update our advice according to the latest information available.
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 jabs, so blanket generalisations cannot be made.
However based on past experience we would normally expect you to be up to date with the following inoculations:
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Tetanus
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Typhoid
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Hepatitis A
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Polio
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Rabies - Unless you are doing a dissertation, you will not be handling any small mammals or bats and as a
result will not be particularly exposed to rabies, although the general
advice for Honduras and most countries in central America is to have the
rabies course of injections as a precaution. Those volunteers doing bat,
small mammal or bird dissertations or those who wish to spend most of their
time as general volunteers with the small mammal, bat or bird 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.
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Malaria - It is generally advised that you take Chloroquine
though because advice changes from time to time it is worth checking with your
GP or travel clinic about one month before departure. Note you will not be
allowed to dive if you are taking Larium. You
will need to start taking malarial prophylactics one week before departure. No
drug offers complete protection from contracting malaria.
The only sure way of preventing diseases transmitted through insect bites
(particularly mosquitoes and ticks) is to prevent being bitten.
Use precautions including insect repellent; cover exposed skin, use of
mosquito nets etc.
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 camp is probably El Danto. In these cases you are going to need to be able to carry a pack and trek for 4 - 5 hours in temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius and 80 -90% humidity.
The next most strenuous sites are the Cusuco fly camps where you may be trekking for 3 - 4 hours but at lower temperatures and mostly in the shade. If you are at Buenos Aires you may be trekking for 2 -3 hours a day but not with packs, whilst those at Cusuco Base Camp can get away with only 1 - 2 hours trekking per day.
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!
