Health and Safety

Joining conservation expeditions is a great way to explore the world, making a difference whilst exploring amazing countries. Here at Love The Oceans we’re dedicated to providing an authentic experience in Mozambique while making sure our volunteers and students are safe, supported and proper accountability is implemented.

How Does Love The Oceans Ensure Expedition Participant Safety at all times?

We take the safety and well-being of our program participants very seriously. Below are some of the policies we follow:

All staff are first aid trained and trained in Love The Oceans’ health and safety procedures
All our partners undergo extensive risk assessments
Criminal record checks are carried out for all staff and volunteers
We have a Code of Conduct that all our volunteers, students and staff must abide by and sign before joining us in Mozambique. This is enforced and includes termination of placement for breaches.
We offer a 24/7 emergency phone line
Weekly blogs on the website are posted throughout each marine conservation program to keep family and friends of volunteers updated
We supply field contact details and important numbers to participants and instruct them to pass them onto their emergency contacts and close friends and family
We are BS 8848 approved. Statement of Conformity (for a single venture that has been self assessed): The ventures provided by Love The Oceans conform to BS8848:2014. Self-declared on 17th February 2017. See Parent’s Guide to BS 8848 here.

Love The Oceans has assessed the environments we work in, the risk involved and we’ve worked to reduce this risk to health and safety as much as possible. Below are some documents that you may find useful – they explain Love The Oceans’ approach to risk management as well as giving more information about the health and safety policies in place to protect both staff and volunteers on our programs.

Health and Safety Policy
Expeditions Dive Policy
Application Terms and Conditions
Risk Assessments
Code of Conduct
Medical and Evacuation Procedure
Important Numbers Sheet
2018 Health Report
BSI Compliance Document
Fire Safety Policy

General Travel and Health Advice for Mozambique

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides summary travel advice for travelling to and in Mozambique. However, this is blanket travel advice for the entire country. Where we’re located is very rural which means crime rates are extremely low. Nevertheless, we have a 24/7 guard on site and we have emergency and evacuation procedures in place. The Inhambane Province has not had any political unrest and is not expected to in the future. We consider Jangamo to be very safe and full risk assessments are carried out prior to each season and are regularly audited and updated on our website. Further information on health and safety can be found by following the below links.

British Government Travel Advice
USA Government Travel Advice
Hazardous Marine Life
DAN Dive Safety

Physical fitness

On the Love The Oceans programs you will be leading an active life style. Diving regularly, long days and walking to research sites means you need to be relatively fit. You’ll need to be able to carry your backpack to and from the research sites (approx 40min walk) along the sandy beach in temperatures of 15-40 degrees Celsius. Humidity levels are relatively low.

In order to participate in diving activities or any water based activities (snorkelling/surfing) you will need to be able to swim 200 metres and tread water for 10 minutes unaided as per PADI Open Water prerequisites.

Diet and Allergy Advice

In Mozambique your diet will mostly consist of carbohydrates and rice, locally sourced. Even though it is a tropical country, there isn’t a lot of fruit and vegetables available locally. Chicken or fish will be served regularly but red meat will be fairly rare as it has to be imported since it isn’t possible to raise cattle where we are. Salad or veg is served with every evening meal and we will try and provide fruit with lunch every day.

Most dietary requirements can be catered for so please ensure you’ve declared your dietary requirements on the application form. If you are worried about this, please do not hesitate to contact the office and enquire at info@lovetheoceans.org. If you have a severe food allergy please contact us to discuss this further as you may need to cater for yourself.