That is according to an inaugural survey by business risk consultancy Control Risks.

In the survey of business travel security, Control Risks found that 59 per cent of respondents had little confidence that their firm would be able to give them the correct advice in the event of an outbreak of violence, political unrest or a natural disaster.

Increasing danger

Of the British respondents, more than half (53pc) predict that the world will become a more dangerous place for business travellers over the next five years and 40 per cent think they are more likely to be targeted than other travellers by extremists or terrorists.

What they say

“Despite a perception by travellers that the world is becoming more dangerous, some companies have not attempted to redress the balance by putting a credible support structure in place” says Hannah Kitt, Director of Travel Security Services, at Control Risks. But just as the firms do not seem to be taking security seriously, nor do the travellers themselves. Nearly two-fifths of the respondents (38pc) said they never did any research on the political or social climate of the countries they visited and a similar proportion (40pc) said they would have no idea who to call if they were
caught up in an emergency. Indeed, 72pc said they never carried an emergency phone number and that figure rose to 83pc for those employed by small firms.

Legal obligation

These figures tally with the findings that almost two-thirds (61pc) of UK companies that send staff abroad have no clear travel security policy and 56pc of business travellers have no support systems back home either provided in-house or by an external specialist. This is all the more surprising, the consultancy says, when taking into account comments by the respondents that they had little choice about where they were sent and had to simply brave the risks and that 86 per cent believed their firm had a legal obligation to support them while they were away.

“For many employees, the nature of their jobs requires that they travel to high risk destinations. If companies do not have a proper travel security programme in place to support travellers, this is a clear breach of duty of care,” says Ms Kitt. “Increasingly, companies from all sectors face a potential legal responsibility to demonstrate duty of care towards employees. Creating and maintaining a robust travel security programme is critical as it will ensure the safety of employees while helping the firm to avoid costly legal and reputational fall-out if something goes wrong.”

Example

An engineering company recently approached Control Risks after an incident which underlined how their lack of preparedness had left their travellers exposed. A new employee was sent in his second week to two countries in Central Asia and given a dedicated driver as transport. Two days into his trip, the individual asked his driver to stop so that he could buy a bottle of water from a roadside shop. When he left the shop, he realised that the vehicle had disappeared, with his mobile phone, laptop, passport and other documentation. The shopkeeper drove him to the nearest police post which happened to be on the border. This in turn created further complications when the border police demanded his documentation. He was arrested.

The traveller had been given no briefing on the country he was visiting and no emergency number to call. The company realised two days later that their traveller was not attending meetings but found they had no contact information or itinerary details for the traveller. Eventually, the authorities in country were able to resolve the issue with the individual’s embassy. The individual was deeply distressed and threatened legal action against his company. The individual was given compensation but is still deciding whether to take legal action. An HR manager lost her job, confidence in management was rocked and the company lost business while staff refused to travel to the country concerned for a month until travel security measures were put in place.

What consultants say

Control Risks point out that although there is no statutory law in the UK to protect employees abroad, there have been many civil cases brought against corporations and scores of out-of-court settlements. And, the consultancy adds, although such a settlement is a cost in money and reputation, there is besides the internal damage to staff confidence in management. Although, the consultancy adds, the risk of business travellers getting caught up in a terrorist event or a natural disaster is minimal, these events top employees' concerns when travelling; Control Risks argue that back-up, whether done in-house or externally, will help travellers perform to a higher standard.

About the survey

The consultancy reports that the fieldwork was carried out in May and June 2007. In total, some 1,039 business travellers were interviewed by ‘phone, 501 in the UK and 539 in the United States.

More details

The survey offers an insight into what travellers are thinking. A war zone (68pc), terrorism (62pc) or an unstable political situation (49pc) are more likely to concern British business travellers abroad than any other danger, such as crime (35pc) or natural disasters (33pc). And more than half of British and US employees (excluding bosses) would consider legal action in the event of an emergency being mishandled by their employers.

In the recently published Alastair Campbell Diaries: The Blair Years, in January 2002 the former 10 Downing Street press man and the Prime Minister were in Kabul. One of the ‘special forces guys’ tells Campbell: ‘Welcome to bandit country. The living was basic; Tony Blair for instance had to pee in a tube in the ground. Most places though they may have their hazards are not as extreme as Afghanistan. But few travellers can expect to be as well guarded as the UK PM. How are business travellers to be physically protected, and mentally prepared, for conditions other than western material comfort?

Via one of Professional Security’s July email newsletters, Andrew Smith senior associate at Shen Milsom & Wilke (briefly, it’s a consulting practice including building security, in London EC1) commented that he was flabbergasted by the CRG report of the arrested man in central Asia. He said: “Before anybody goes anywhere, they should be looking at the Foreign Office website on the country they are going to. You actually need to research the people you are going to use when you go to the other end. You don’t take a taxi off the rank at Dar es Salaam airport. You need to take advice off the people you are going to see, as to who can be trusted; which hotels have good security.” That is, while training whether in personal safety or hostile awareness or self-defence is useful, you need to do your homework before you buy your airline ticket. And if the risks are too great, you do not bother going; because in some places if it goes wrong, it goes wrong badly.