Business travel has become an integral part of conducting business and as such needs to be considered a duty of care with health and safety policies in place. When discussing safety and security, the focus tends to be on the most prominent issues like natural disasters, terror incidents and kidnapping. Less dramatic, but far more frequent, are issues like car accidents and medical incidents abroad.
With corporate mobility being critical to conducting business, responsible travel management requires companies to go beyond strictly environmental concerns. Travel risk programs need to be tailored to fit a given organisation’s specific needs, and integrated into overall risk management programmes.
At Venture Safely we provide training programmes for travellers, arrangers and managers ranging from general travel risks and how to avoid or reduce them to medical risks and specific country preparation.
Even companies with a good track record in safety and security may have some gaps in securing the well-being of their employees engaged in business travel and whilst each gap in itself might seem small, be aware that oversights could be perceived as negligence.
Recent events throughout Europe have proven that travel security programmes and travel risk management strategies and policies should no longer just focus on high-risk foreign travel.
A business travel safety study revealed that 46% of firms have no clear travel security policy in place (Source: Control Risks Group 2007) and that, aside from the risk to employees, presents a real risk to the Company under the Corporate Manslaughter & Corporate Homicide Act in the UK leading to both financial and reputational damage.
Ask yourself if any of these statements reflect your Company’s current approach to business travel:
- Travel policy omits safety and security altogether
- Policy treats senior level management differently from other employees
- Company fails to inform and educate their travellers on general and specific travel risks (including recommended vaccinations for a specific destination)
- Company does not document when they have advised employees on travel safety
- Travel security programme focuses on high-risk foreign travel rather than including domestic travel
- Safety and security is not part of travel procurement criteria
- Risk assessment does not use a door-to-door approach
- Company does not test its crisis management plan regularly
- Company does not have a dedicated, fully-mapped travel risk management strategy
If they do, then you need to talk to us.