Partner Article

Looking after your staff in uncertain times

With extremist activity on the rise globally, and the uncertainty of which city will be targeted next, the Institute of Risk Management (IRM) takes a look into the world of corporate travel risk and how this affects businesses on an enterprise wide risk management level.

The world is increasingly dangerous, with war zones, unrest and the increasing extremist activity, but how is this balanced with other threats of safety to employees in major cities or outposts and balanced with the need for business as usual?

The recent tragedies in Paris, lockdown in Belgium and terrorist activity further afield in Egypt, Mali and other countries around the globe, highlight the need for employers to analyse danger zones and the risks to their employees. Organisations must factor in intelligence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as other risk indices including: crime and disease statistics as well as security threat levels.

Risk Managers play a key part in identifying the risks, offering policies and procedures for staff and ensuring the wellbeing of representatives whilst abroad.

Alyson Pepperill, a Certified Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management and Client Projects Director, UK Retail for Arthur J Gallagher agrees:

“Any organisation whose people travel on their behalf should consider travel security and safety as part of their enterprise risk management strategy and include it in their corporate risk register. Quite apart from the legal duty of care for UK organisations, people are usually cited as the key assets in any report and accounts and, as such, exposing them to danger whilst working for an organisation should be a serious concern for any Board.

“How the risk is managed will, of course, vary depending on many factors including regularity of travelling, where individuals will travel to/in, and what they are doing. Here at Arthur J. Gallagher, we work with a number of overseas aid charities, some operating within war and disaster zones who take travel security very seriously indeed, whereas other UK-based clients simply attend the odd conference overseas and do little more than arrange the flights and accommodation. The response will need to be proportionate to the risk exposures.

“Bearing in mind the recent spate of terrorist attacks, in different geographies, it can be difficult to know whether Belgium and Europe generally are any more unsafe than DRC or South America but this is where drilling down into the specific exposures is important. Whilst the events in France were dreadful and perhaps a wake-up call for that part of Europe, the associated risks need to be compared to, for example, the day to day violence in places like Rwanda, motor accidents in India or Pakistan, kidnapping in Mexico, and natural disasters in the Philippines.

“Every one of these incidents is dreadful if you are the person caught up in it but if you know the risk has been considered and you have training as to what to expect and how to behave at least the risks have tried to be managed and thought through. It’s also reassuring to know that your organisation has thought about how to help you if you are caught up in serious situations.”

José Morago, Chairman, IRM and Group Risk Director for Aviva Plc agrees:

“Global mobility of staff is a crucial factor in conducting business, and responsible travel management is a key factor in the light of recent security threats.

Travel risk programs need to be tailored to fit an organisation’s specific needs and markets, and integrated into the overall enterprise risk management program. Staff are our key asset, and their welfare paramount.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Victoria Robinson .