and west Africa where Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda franchise is growing at an extraordinary rate. The idea that we can discount terrorism as yesterday’s problem is not plausible.” Although kidnap and ransom
remain low frequency events and rarely affect Western business travellers and tourists, if an incident does occur it can have a high impact on the individuals and families involved. No employer would want to be involved in a hostage or ransom situation with an untested travel insurance policy. Richard says companies should
have a clearly-defined travel risk management programme in place, led by HR and involving the security team. It should cover five stages: establishing the programme, pre-travel risk assessment, traveller preparation, monitoring and communication during travel, and response in case of incidents or emergencies. He says the “best in class”
approach for global mobility team managers and HR teams is to have a travel risk management programme which assesses the risk, prepares travellers and is able to respond when necessary, all within a clear commitment to duty of care. “Your duty of care commitment starts at the moment you employ
someone,” he says. “It is about making sure that when something goes wrong, and it will go wrong, because that is how the world is, that you are well placed to respond and stop an incident turning into a crisis.” He says managers need to think about the insurance that the company purchase for its mobile staff. Does it cover all the right things? If you have to call on that policy, will it deliver? Simply purchasing the policy alone is not enough, you need to understand how that policy will perform at the point you need it.
HOW SHOULD COMPANIES DEAL WITH SERIOUS INCIDENTS ABROAD INVOLVING THEIR STAFF? Malicious detention, such as being arrested by foreign authorities on fabricated or minor charges, poses significant challenges for companies. In cases like these, the company’s ability to assist is limited, and consular assistance becomes crucial. Companies may focus on supporting the family and engaging with relevant governments rather than directly resolving the situation. One emerging issue is that individuals who are nationals of a country, or who have dual nationality, are increasingly at risk
“Your duty of care commitment starts at the moment you employ someone. It is about making sure that when something goes wrong, and it will go wrong, because that is how the world is, that you are well placed to respond and stop an incident turning into a crisis.”
of random or malicious detentions in certain jurisdictions such as China and Iran. This means that companies need to think about the risk of whether or not to send certain staff to specific locations, even though they would be ideal in terms of seniority and being fluent in the local language. In fact, Richard says risk
assessments should go beyond destination-focused evaluations and consider traveller profiles. Factors such as dual nationality, sector-specific risks (eg. technology,
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THINK GLOBAL PEOPLE HOT TOPIC : BUSINE SS TRAVEL RISK
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