Duty of Care is a key responsibility of any organisation, and the importance is growing, with governments around the globe implementing legislation to ensure staff are kept safe, and of course the increased risks of incidents. Terrorist attacks are occurring more often, and political instability is rife in many emerging markets that are a focus for many businesses, however it is more likely that a traveller will be a victim of petty crime such as being robbed or be involved in a car or transportation accident than the victim of a terrorist attack.
These less sensational events are what travel managers need to solve when employees are traveling. According to global alert data from intelligence provider iJET, 54 percent of alerts generated over the last five years have been security-related. Political, environmental, health and transportation issues account for the other 46 percent. The majority of these incidents can happen anywhere, at any time.
Below I outline three ways to deliver the travel risk management support your employees needs:
Preparation
I think we can all agree that providing tools, services and solutions to the travellers prior to the trip as part of a robust travel risk management program will mitigate travel risk and reduce financial impact if an incident occurs.
This often includes collating destination briefs, communicating safe travel practices, ensuring employees receive appropriate vaccinations, and ensuring the traveller has an understanding of their responsibility as identified in the formal travel risk plan.
New tools on the market can procide critical travel data and knowledge, which serves as a key touch point to develop pre-trip information and a plan for making immediate changes to travel if disaster strikes. At Restrata, we provide in depth travel reports for some of the most high risk regions on the planet to support with this aspect.
Real-time monitoring
For both travel managers and TMCs, this requires the implemntation of tools and technologies that allow for 24/7 real-time monitoring of all personal travelling anywhere in the world.
In a recent study by Sabre and GBTA on The Digital Business Traveller, the majority of business travellers say they would allow their company to track their location via their mobile device for duty-of-care purposes.
Immediate response
Making preparations and even monitoring your corporate travellers is all well and good but when an incident occurs, an organisation must have an incident management plan in place to provide immediate assistance. Depending on the severity of the situation this might include evacuation services, medical or security assistance, new accommodation, or even directions to the nearest Embassy.
At Restrata we provide not only the tracking technology, but the emergency response when the panic button is pressed, a service provided 24/7/365 by our Incident Management Centre. You can find out more here:
Ultimately, duty of care and travel risk management requires a great deal of planning, and ideally specialised tools and services geared at keeping your people safe wherever they are in the world.
Planning and Technology will prepare you for every scenario and allow the best response in an appropriate time frame.
If you’d like to discuss your requirements as an organisation, please contact our team.