As businesses expand globally, more and more employees are finding themselves jet-setting for work. Whether it’s the big multinational corporations or the smaller companies making their mark worldwide, the demand for business travel is on the rise. But with great opportunities come great responsibilities, especially when it comes to keeping your employees safe on the go. This is where corporate travel safety tips comes in handy.
While most business trips go smoothly, there’s always a slight chance of encountering unexpected challenges. That’s why it’s essential for employers to be proactive in safeguarding their employees during their travels. From conducting thorough risk assessments to establishing clear emergency procedures, preparation is key to mitigating potential risks and ensuring peace of mind for everyone involved.
A recent study by Amadeus revealed that an overwhelming 84% of business travellers prioritise travelling under stringent safety protocols. This heightened concern has only intensified in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, making employee travel safety a top priority for companies worldwide.
Continue reading to discover further insights into the importance of duty of care in business travel, as well as essential corporate travel safety tips that you should take into consideration for the well-being of your employees.
What is the role of duty care in business travel?
Duty of care serves as both a corporate policy and a legal obligation, ensuring that companies prioritise the physical and emotional safety and well-being of their employees. This covers a wide area of risks, with the most common ones being:
- Ensuring health and safety standards,
- Supervising the provision of food and beverages by the organisation,
- Implementing fire safety protocols,
- Preventing instances of discrimination and harassment,
- Managing stress-related issues,
- Addressing incidents of violence,
- And more.
For employers, this involves actively showing care for their employees’ safety by meticulously planning and implementing all necessary measures to minimise risks to both employees and others.
What are the risks that business travellers face?
- Health risks: These hazards extend from global health emergencies like COVID-19 to individual health concerns related to travel, such as jet lag, sleep disturbances, foodborne illnesses, and common colds. The severity of these risks can fluctuate greatly depending on the unique circumstances of each traveller.
- Political risks: Civil unrest, including terrorist attacks, riots, and political conflicts, presents significant security risks to travellers who may find themselves involved in such events.
- Cultural risks: Standing out from the local population poses a risk in itself. Travel often places your employees in unfamiliar environments or amidst unfamiliar customs. Language barriers can complicate various aspects, including daily navigation and emergency responses.
- Natural disasters: Business travellers may find themselves amidst blizzards, hailstorms, earthquakes, tornadoes, or other disasters, depending on the location. Such situations may necessitate immediate shelter or evacuation measures.
- Accidents: The most common risks in this category include airline emergencies, such as air collisions and emergency landings, as well as road traffic accidents.
Theft and harassment
This often boils down to profiling. Business travellers who are impeccably dressed and carry high-end mobile devices are more likely to stand out, making them potential targets for pickpocketing, harassment, and threats. Female travellers, in particular, face heightened risks while on the road, including sexual harassment, assault, theft, and kidnapping.
Corporate Travel Safety Tips
Corporate Travel Safety TipsPre-travel:
1. Risk assessment
The first step involves evaluating the risk level associated with every aspect of the trip. Before arranging travel and accommodation, it’s essential to consider various factors about the destination, such as road safety, climate and weather conditions, presence of diseases like malaria or respiratory viruses, and political and civil stability.
Periodically assessing potential business destinations and categorising them based on risk level (low, medium, or high) assists in establishing realistic internal travel policies, including any restrictions on travelling to countries deemed highly risky.
2. Understand your traveller
The more insight you have into your traveller, the more effectively you can shield them from potentially harmful conditions. If local employment regulations permit gathering information about employees’ physical and mental well-being, utilise this data to anticipate any unique risks that individual travellers might encounter, and prepare accordingly.
3. Educate your employees
It’s crucial to ensure that your employees are thoroughly familiar with your company’s travel policies. Provide them with useful tips and strategies for safe travel and educate them about the destination they will be visiting. Before departure, ensure that your employees have access to emergency contact numbers for both your travel insurance provider and your travel team.
4. Get your team ready
Establish and distribute a travel policy outlining guidelines for employees managing travel logistics. Keep a close watch on the company’s bookings to identify and address any high-risk or policy-violating travel arrangements.
Before a traveller embarks on their journey, ensure you have contact details for their next of kin and any clients or business partners they’ll be meeting. Lastly, set up travel alerts to keep your travellers and travel team informed of any potential disruptions.
While travelling:
During travel, it’s essential to keep tabs on the whereabouts of your travelling employees at all times. Consider integrating a traveller tracking application in partnership with a Travel Management Company (TMC) or a third-party duty of care service provider.
These applications offer insights into travellers at risk, real-time tracking of employees, communication of active alerts, and identification of potential disruptions to future bookings. Whether you opt for a third-party provider or manage duty of care internally, always ensure your travellers have access to 24/7 support for emergencies or itinerary adjustments.
Post-travel:
After travel, it’s beneficial to survey your travellers once they’ve returned to the office and gather feedback to identify areas for improvement. Additionally, consider offering post-trip health checkups.
For instance, many organisations provided employees who returned from business trips during the COVID-19 pandemic with post-travel checkups to mitigate any potential transmission of the virus related to travel.
It’s rarely a matter of life and death
It’s rarely a matter of life and deathWhile incidents on business trips may not typically be life-threatening, they can lead to inconveniences like stolen phones or sickness due to poor hygiene in certain regions. Beyond the immediate stress for travellers, these minor incidents accumulate, resulting in lost workdays, wasted trips, and discontent among employees.
Corporate travel safety extends beyond merely avoiding legal liabilities for employers in the event of mishaps on work trips. It’s about maximising the effectiveness of those costly flights and accommodations by ensuring that staff operate at their best and stay focused on their tasks at hand.
Ensure corporate travel safety with Holiday Tours
As highlighted in the Holiday Tours Travel Safety Promise, we take a holistic approach to ensuring both safety and security. We understand the critical importance of protecting the well-being of your employees, while also being mindful of the corporate-level risks involved.
Regardless of whether you’re deploying a team or an individual, for a short-term trip or a longer assignment, we stand ready to assist and assure you that you can travel with confidence.
REACH OUT TO US AT + 603 2303 9100 (PRESS 3) OR [email protected]
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