Business must protect travelling staff

Organisations are not doing enough to ensure their travel risk strategies are fit for the 21st century realities of business travel and fulfil their legal duty of care, according to the UK’s risk management association Airmic. In a new report, it explains that business travel has grown by 25% in the past decade, with businesses sending employees and other people they are responsible for to a wider range of territories, including high or extreme risk regions. In addition, the nature of terrorism has changed such that low risk destinations can become high risk in a matter of hours. Businesses have a duty of care to protect their employees – which may include contractors and family members – and yet only 16% of Airmic members surveyed have high confidence in their travel risk management framework. The report refers to some Africa specific risks among its list. It says "These can be incidental and very rare or ‘common’ threats that could be life threatening if not attended to." Threats include: • health and medical risks (eg malaria, Ebola, flu, tourist diarrhoea, trauma) • safety and security risks (eg road safety, petty crime, terrorism, civil unrest, political instability, express kidnapping) • psychological and individual risks (eg extreme solitude, depression due to emotional remoteness) According to the report, insurance – while important – is not a sufficient mitigation strategy, especially in today’s fluid and complex geopolitical environment. Businesses also need reliable sources of relevant intelligence and flexible and pre-rehearsed plans in place to ensure a quick and proportionate response to any crisis impacting its people. “Sadly, every week we are currently reminded why having an effective travel risk management framework in place is imperative. As the tragic events in the UK demonstrate, any destination can become high risk at an intense speed,” commented Julia Graham, Airmic’s deputy CEO and technical director. She added: “I urge all risk professionals to review, update and rehearse how they would respond should such an incident impact their organisation. Knowing where your people are and how you can communicate with each other in the event of a crisis is especially important.” The guide also notes that today there is a greater diversity of people undertaking business travel. Organisations therefore need to risk profile each travel destination in view of their own policies for diversity and inclusion. The report, Travel Risk Management, was produced with International SOS and Control Risks. It sets out good practice for risk managers and provides a travel toolkit to help organisations improve their pre-, during and post-travel policies. It offers advice on buying insurance, noting that it is “vital” organisations understand any exclusions and consider the impact of business travel on long-term covers, including those for permanent health and life assurance.

Business must protect travelling staff

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