HEALTH
Health matters
With new relocation and international assignment destinations emerging and threats to health and security increasing, Louise Whitson looks at how employers can meet their duty of care towards employees on the move and reduce risks to the business.
A
s the latest global mobility surveys show, international assignments and business travel are on the rise.
Organisations of all types and sizes are now sending their key talent overseas, often to remote or otherwise challenging locations. While the world may be shrinking,
health and security risks to globally mobile employees are growing. These can be from infectious disease, physical or mental illness, injury, natural disaster, war or terrorist incident. Employee benefits company Jelf
International is seeing a steady flow of overseas assignments into high-risk areas. “Developing countries such as Ethiopia and Ivory Coast are seeing economic growth rates of almost 10 per cent, backed up by World Bank statistics,” says international account manager David Hilton. “Private investment inflows are
booming in such countries, and subsequent opportunities in industries such as infrastructure, banking and construction
are creating the need for overseas talent. This has somewhat been curbed by global shocks and epidemics such as Ebola, but, after a period of recovery, business is gradually starting to pick back up in affected areas.” Political barriers, Mr Hilton adds, are
easing in certain areas, creating significant opportunities for international growth. “A widely published example is Iran,”
he says, “which has seen a gradual relief of financial sanctions, starting in January 2016. Those exposed to the significant drop in crude oil prices over the last year are likely to see this as a route to diversifying and generating alternative revenues. Global businesses like Boeing have already obtained sizeable contracts in Iran, which will drive overseas assignments; however, many organisations will be cautious, as uncertainty remains.” David Hilton points out that escalating
global risks, health epidemics, humanitarian issues and political threats are also
increasing pressures on NGOs, which have increased their number of overseas assignments in response. Led by customer demand, there is a
trend for international medical insurance (iPMI) providers to integrate security with healthcare cover and other products. Allianz’s range of corporate assistance and risk management solutions, for example, includes integrated health, travel, security, occupational health and employee assistance programmes. Risk advisory and security services
company Solace Global is partnering with CEGA, a provider of emergency medical and security assistance, to launch INtrinsic, a new programme which mitigates risk for insurers and organisations that operate or send employees abroad by providing a full range of security and medical services via a single contact point. Kieran Lavy, tactical intelligence analyst
at Solace Global, says, “We are seeing a number of enquiries from technology
46 | Re:locate | Autumn 2016
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