DHL Group, the global logistics brand recently conducted its second GoHelp Disaster Response Team (DRT) training in Bangalore, India, strengthening resilience and preparedness against disasters in the South Asia region. The first training was conducted back in 2013.
The two-day training held from April 5-6, 2025, at a DHL facility in Bangalore, was attended by over 30 employees from Blue Dart, DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, and DHL Supply Chain. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a specialised force in India formed to respond to natural and man-made disasters, attended the training as observer.
“It has been over 20 years now since our Disaster Response Team (DRT) was setup and has been collaboratively working with United Nations to support affected countries globally. Our employees undergo these training, so that they can reduce the negative impact of a natural disaster and help communities recover faster,” said Vikas Anand, managing director, India, DHL Supply Chain.
In the theoretical session dealing with safety and stakeholder management, the participants learned how to work with NGOs, the military, government organisations, and the media. The practical session included a disaster simulation, where participants were coached on relief cargo management during a crisis, warehousing and forklift driving.
DHL has provided support during the 2018 Kerala floods, and the 2022 Assam floods in India. While DHL employees possess logistics expertise, the Group realises that the situation during a deployment can be different from their daily activities.
According to Carl Schelfhaut, Head of the GoHelp programme, Asia Pacific, DHL Group, “Since our last training in 2013, the focus has shifted from reactive disaster response to proactive preparedness. We now train them beyond airport logistics to include warehousing so that they manage relief cargo effectively and provide critical aid across multiple touchpoints during emergencies.”
Given the way climate change is taking place, the Indian subcontinent is likely to experience an increasing number of extreme weather events in the future.
“Our employees go through these trainings to ensure that they can make active change in the communities they are in,” said RS Subramanian, senior vice president, South Asia, DHL Express.
In the words of Balfour Manuel, managing director, Blue Dart, “Our GoHelp programme and the humanitarian efforts under this initiative have a significant impact, and their importance will only continue to grow.”
Edwin Pinto, managing director, India, DHL Global Forwarding, believes that employees’ skills “in managing relief cargo across multiple touchpoints will be much needed as natural disasters occur more often these days.”
India being amongst the most disaster-prone countries with most of its regions exposed to recurrent natural hazards, such as cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, floods and droughts, this preparedness on the part of DHL’s disaster response training team is commendable.
Since 2005, DHL Group has volunteered its logistics expertise and global network in partnership with the United Nations to help provide global relief efforts in disaster areas via the GoHelp programme. In times of disaster, the DRTs are deployed to landside or airside facilities in need of assistance when called upon by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, to better manage incoming relief goods.