DHL launches disaster prevention at Bangladesh airports
Deutsche Post DHL will conduct its "Get Airports Ready for Disaster" (GARD) training at the Dhaka and Chittagong airports in Bangladesh in June, preparing both airports and personnel for post-disaster logistics situations.
The aim of the training is to improve local logistics capacities so that bottlenecks at disaster-site airports can be avoided when huge volumes of incoming relief goods arrive ad hoc.
Trainings have already been conducted in Indonesia and Nepal.
The GARD program was developed together with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to train airport personnel, local security officials and representatives of national disaster agencies in airport logistics management. Launched in 2009, GARD aims to enable a quick and effective response to the challenges of disaster relief logistics.
GARD instructors are specially trained logistics and training experts, some of whom are already involved as volunteers in DHL’s disaster management program. Trainees include airport personnel, security officers and military officials. Representatives from various humanitarian organisations, such as the UN World Food Program and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are also present as important partners on the ground.
The GARD training program begins with an assessment of the existing situation, including available personnel, equipment and the airfield situation. Warehouse space, for example, is one the program’s focus areas. Trainees are instructed in assessing storage options for relief goods and whether the necessary equipment is available for cargo handling, such as forklifts, pallets, gloves and boxes. In the workshops, the local trainees evaluate the results and develop contingency plans accordingly. GARD participants learn how to optimise logistics processes and capacities for when international relief goods begin to pour into the airport.
Deutsche Post DHL’s commitment to humanitarian relief includes its Disaster Response Team (DRT) program, with DRTs being deployed to more than twenty airports since 2005.
Quelle: eyefortransport
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