NMAS 10.20

Demining Worksite Safety

Edition 2.1 - March 2020     DOWNLOAD

Introduction

There is a fundamental need in Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) to provide and maintain a safe working environment by ensuring that risk levels are always tolerable. Managing risk requires the application and maintenance of recognized Safety and Occupational Health (S&OH) practices including effective management, appropriate training and the use of safe equipment including PPE. All IAs shall have appropriate and effective S&OH systems that apply to the varied environments in which their work is conducted, including the office, the times of transit for work purposes and when at demining worksites. The Government of Lebanon (GoL) and the LMAC recognize a need to do all that is reasonable to support the safety of all persons undertaking mine action tasks in the field. In the field, the provision of a safe working environment includes the design and layout of a demining worksite by fencing and marking hazardous areas, controlling the movement of people, enforcing working and safety distances, providing safe equipment including PPE, and providing effective medical cover. In support of this goal, this NMAS gives standards and guidelines related to establishing and maintaining a safe demining worksite. Its content is designed to ensure that S&OH risks in the worksite are identified, assessed, and reduced to a tolerable level using a formal risk management system. The SOPs for all field activities presented by the IA for the LMAC’s approval should be based on the requirements stated herein and reflect the content of NMAS 07.14 Risk Management.