Ensuring employees travel safe – crisis management, an integral part of travel policy, by Director of The Anvil Group, Matthew Judge.
Natural disasters, terrorist attacks, political instability and pandemics are just a few of the issues that affect business travel in an increasingly unpredictable global environment. Today’s business conditions require a robust, crisis-– and travel risk management plan to deal with unforeseen events and mitigate risk. Catastrophes such as the London Bombings and the September 11th terrorist attacks have highlighted the need to respond to incidents in a fast effective manner.
A successful crisis management plan incorporates organisational programs such as emergency response, disaster recovery, risk management, communications and business continuity. In addition, crisis management is about developing an organisation’s capability to react flexibly and thus be able to make the prompt and necessary decisions when a crisis occurs. Events are often beyond a company’s control, yet corporate liability and responsibility to assets and employees continues to increase.
Increasingly, organisations face a moral and legal responsibility to demonstrate a duty of care and corporate responsibility towards employees and the integrity of their business. Corporations need to ensure and demonstrate compliance with existing health and safety legislation and the new Corporate Manslaughter and Homicide Act by providing adequate warnings, training and protection for employees. Organisations have a responsibility to keep their employees safe whilst travelling on company business, not just internationally but also domestically. In light of the new Corporate Homicide and Corporate Manslaughter Act these issues are compounded. As a matter of course it is essential that companies carry out thorough risk assessments before any trip is made.
In the case of a poorly handled crisis, it may take years for a company to re-establish its reputation. Crisis management, when handled well, safeguards the reputation and brand, forms avoidance of liable actions, protects assets through risk reduction, and initiates compliance with health and safety legislation. Organisations cannot afford to be ill prepared, which in hand is increasing the need for solutions to meet business resiliency demands.
Fortunately there are easy to use services that allow corporate travel, security and risk managers to monitor, assess and react to threats globally. Systems such as Employee Travel Monitoring Solution (ETMS) and Travel Risk Intelligence System (TRIS) have been designed to aid organisations to quickly identify specific vulnerabilities and threats and take pro-active steps to mitigate the risks instantly.
As companies continue to globalise and move into emerging markets, threats to business travellers increase. Elements such as information, tracking and 24-hour support combined with an incident or crisis management plan form an extremely robust program. Organisations can be better prepared to handle unforeseen events, protect their travellers and the company reputation from serious or irreparable damage.
