SAFETY AND SECURITY RISK ASSEMENT TOOLS (Annex III, Chitral)

1. THREAT PORTFOLIO
Use the threat portfolio to identify and generate a comprehensive list of threats that may have an impact on safety and
security of the organization and staff. The list below is not exhaustive and can be complemented as needed.
Clusters

Threat events

Description/information

yes

Political, social &

cultural
instability

Conflict

Violent or non-violent crisis or war between groups or states.

Political crisis

Threat to governmental and/or constitutional authority; serious & widespread

wave of protest and dissent against government.

Coup dtat

Violent or illegal seizure of power.

Military coup

Seizure of power by military actors.

Militants

Illegal armed forces; insurgents; guerrillas; extremists; terrorists; radical

groups, etc.

Repression by the state

Totalitarianism; extreme state regulation of most aspects of public & private

life; restrictions on fundamental civil and political rights (media freedom,
rights to free expression, association and peaceful assembly); excessive use
of force by the security forces and impunity for such abuses.

Surveillance

Observation and recording (often covert) of staff or partner movements and

activities by security agents.

Legal restrictions

Restricted environment for local and/or international NGOs

Non-reliable law system

Ill-defined, undeveloped and/or corrupt legal institutions and instruments;

absence of rule of law.

Corruption

Bribery; fraudulent activity; extortion; nepotism; dishonesty; misuse of

information

Extortion

Unlawful extraction of money or goods through threats, intimidation,

blackmail etc.

Confiscation

Lawful and unlawful seizure of property and/or goods.

Weakness of
state & bad
governance

Civil disorder &

violent actions

Criminal acts &

banditry

Civil unrest, mob violence,

riotes

Public disturbance involving acts of violence by a group, spontaneous &

violent public disorder.

Demonstrations

Non-violent public gathering; march; rally; protest.

Strikes

Collectively withholding labour; refusal to work; work stoppage.

Vandalism

Deliberate damage to or defacing of public and private property.

Looting, pillage

Plunder or stealing of unprotected goods.

Arbitrary arrest

Detention of a person by legal authority without due legal process and/or

without well founded legal cause.

Detention

Temporary imprisonment, custody or confinement; false imprisonment.

Sabotage

Destruction of property; subversion; obstruction of operations.

Petty crimes

Street crime; theft; pick-pocketing; bag snatching.

Violent attacks

Physical assaults; armed robbery; mugging.

Burglary

Illegal entry into occupied or unoccupied building with intent to steal,

damage or injure.

Home invasion

Illegal entry into a private occupied dwelling with intent to commit a crime.

Intimidation, harassment

Physical and/or verbal threats; menace; pester; provoke; cause anxiety or

worry.

Sexually related force

Rape; sexual assault; sexual intimidation & harassment; unwanted sexual

advances.

Kidnapping

The act of taking a person or group against their will and then threaten them
with harm with the aim of coercing money, goods, or services

Abduction, hostage taking

The act of taking someone against their will before or without asking for
ransom; unlawful detention.

Fraud

Criminal deception; deliberate dishonest action to gain advantage; copying

and illegally using identification papers, credit cards etc.

Blackmail

Threat to not expose disreputable information in return for specific action or

payment.

Danger of arms
& explosive
devices

Travel risks

Death threats

Threat to kill a person.

Bombardment

Shelling; aerial bombardment; artillery fire.

Gunfire

Small arms fire; sniper fire; cross-fire; stray bullets.

Danger of landmines

Anti-personnel & anti-vehicle landmines; booby traps.

Explosive remnants

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO); abandoned weapons, ammunition, military

equipment etc.

Bomb attacks

Improvised Explosive Device (IED); roadside bomb; quick-plant bomb; suicide

bomb.

Bomb threats

Threat against building, vehicle etc. by letter or phone.

Dirty bomb

Improvised bomb made of conventional explosives with the addition of

radioactive material; Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD).

Attacks with chemical

agents

Tear gas; gas attack; chemical warfare; nerve agents (sarin); choking agents
(chlorine gas); blood agents (cyanogen gas); blister agents (sulphur gas).

Attacks with biological

agents

Disease producing micro-organisms; toxic biological products; organic

biocides.

Hoax-bomb threats

Threat against building, vehicle etc by letter or phone without intent to carry
out the act but with the intention to cause disruption.

Road traffic accident

Motor vehicle accident due to: Adverse road conditions; poor driving; poor
vehicle maintenance; road unworthy vehicles etc.

Checkpoints, roadblocks

Legal police/military checkpoint; militia/rebel checkpoint; illegal roadblock.

Road ambush attacks

Targeted attack on vehicle; indirect attack on vehicle due to wrong

time/wrong place.

Car-jacking

Vehicle ambush; forcible hijack of vehicle whilst occupied.

Car theft

Robbery of vehicle whilst unoccupied.

Car break-in

Theft of goods from inside vehicle.

Flight accidents

Air disasters or accidents due to poor maintenance, poor infrastructure,

weather conditions etc.

Natural hazards

Health & stress

Infrastructure &
organisation

Earthquakes

Earth tremor

Volcanoes

Volcanic eruption leading to flows of hot lava, ash, rock & toxic gas, nues
ardentes, lahars (mudflows), volcanic ash rain, acid rain, landslides etc.

Floods

Flash flood; storm surge; flood plain.

Tidal waves, tsunami

Caused by earthquake under the ocean.

Landslides, mudslides,
avalanches

Massive slide of mud, rock, snow, and/or ice down a hill or mountainside.

Wildfires

Forest fire; Bush fire. Natural (lightning strike) or man-made (accidental &
deliberate).

Tropical storm

Cyclone; hurricane; typhoon; tropical thunderstorm.

Tropical Diseases

Malaria; dengue fever; yellow fever etc.

Diseases & illness

Tetanus, Hepatitis A,B,C; Diarrhea; food poisoning; sexually transmitted

diseases etc.

Epidemics, pandemics

Ebola, etc.

Exhaustion, fatigue, stress

symptoms

Over-work; alcoholism; drug abuse; nervous breakdown; hyper vigilance etc.

Chemical accident

Chemical contamination of environment.

Nuclear incidents

Radioactive contamination of environment.

Building safety (office,

residences)

Structural condition; location & neighbourhood, accessibility, perimeter

protection.

Power supply

Electrical safety; power cuts; generator power.

Water supply

Irregular water supply; unsafe water quality

Cash handling

Lack of or insufficient safety procedures in place for storage of cash; checking

cash balances; counting cash; bank transfers; transport of cash; cash
withdrawals at ATMs etc.

Fire hazards

Insufficient provisions for electrical wiring & appliance safety; gas safety; safe
cigarette disposal; storage of flammable materials; for fire alert systems

(smoke alarms); fire-fighting equipment

(extinguishers/sprinklers/sand/blankets etc.); no information about
evacuation routes & emergency exits; fire drills; local fire & rescue services.

Staf

IT installation

Insufficient IT safety (virus protection; anti spyware; firewalls, instructions of

staff, etc.); degradation of IT system (frequent hardware of software failures).

Telecoms

Insufficient information security due to eavesdropping & surveillance; Bad

quality of voice and data communication system (landline & mobile network),
poor reception of sat-phone, etc.; limited access and/or coverage.

Water and food supply

Problems with availability, safety and contamination

Attitude, behaviour

Problems with image & perception; behavior at work and outside work;
disgruntled staff (ex-staff); hiring and firing methods and approach; targeting
of staff members based on race/ethnic/gender discrimination

Compliance

Not respecting rules; blatant disregard for rules

Work place safety

Slip & trip hazards; repetitive strain injury; injuries from lifting & carrying.

Others

2. RISK IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS

Specify each threat identified. Assess to what extent the organization or staff may be vulnerable.
Measure the level of each threat by assessing its likelihood and consequences.
Clusters

Political,
social &
cultural
instability

Threat assessment

Vulnerability assessment

Likelihood

Consequences

What are the specific features of the

threats we need to take into
consideration? Describe concisely
where and when each threats presents
itself.

In what way are we vulnerable to this

threat? Describe concisely specific
factors or weaknesses that makes the
organization or staff vulnerable to each
specifc threat.

How likely is it that

the threat will affect
us?

How seriously would

we be affected?

o
o
o
o

unlikely
moderately likely
very likely
virtually certain

1. Militants (extremists; terrorists)

There are cross border
incursions and firing
2. Surveillance (Observation and

1. Working in the boarder areas

2. Working in conflict prone
area
3. Restricted being an INGO

o
o
o

moderately likely
moderately likely
very likely

recording (often covert) of staff or

partner movements and activities
by security agents )

o
o
o
o

to a minor degree
moderately
severely
critically

o
o
o

Moderately
Moderately
severely

3. Legal restrictions (international

NGOs) IC is the only international
organization having valid NOC for
working in Chitral.

Weakness of
the state &
bad
governance

1.

1.

1.

1.

Civil
disorder &
violent
actions

1.

1.

1.

1.

1.

1.

1.

1. Road traffic accident ( Bad Road

1. Frequent Travels due to

project activities.
2. Due to project working areas

o
o

moderately likely
very likely

o
o

Severaly
Severaly

1. Disaster prone area

2. Disaster prone area
3. Disaster prone area

o
o
o

very likely
very likely
Very likely

o
o
o

Moderately
Severaly
moderately

Danger of
arms &
explosive
devices
Travel risks

disreputable information in
return for specific action or
payment).

Conditions)

2. Checkpoints, roadblocks ( Active

Military Operation Area)
1. Earthquakes

2. Floods ( Flash Floods)

3. Landslides, mudslides,
avalanches ( Landslides and
avalanches only)

Health &
stress

1.

1.

1.

Building
protection &
infrastructu
re

1. Building safety (office,

1. Limited options
2. Power crisis
3. Dry area and lack of
knowledge on water quality
issues.

o
o
o

residences)
2. Power supply

3. Water supply ( irregural and

water quality issues)

Severaly

1. Blackmail (Threat to not expose

Natural
hazards

very likely

1. Local interests and strict

limitations from security
forces

Criminal
acts &
banditry

1.

1.

Moderately likely
very likely
Moderately likely

o
o
o

Moderately
Moderately
To a minor degree

Staf

1.

1.

1.

1.

Other

1.

1.

1.

1.

3. RISK MAPPING

very likely virtually certain

Surveillance

Legal Restrictions

Earthquakes

Blackmailing

Landslides and avalanches

Checkpoints, roadblocks

Power supply

Floods ( Flash Floods)

moderately

Militants

Building safety (office,

residences)

unlikely likely

Likelihood (of occurrence)

Transfer the findings of the Risk Analysis into the Matrix below, to visualize the identified risk and its potential impact. Use
a keyword for each threat (e.g. abductions of staff).

Water supply ( irregural and

water quality issues)

minor

Road traffic accident

moderate

severe

Critical

Consequences (if an event would occur)

Normal risks

Treatable risks

Intolerable risks