While travel is an integral component for continued business growth, there are risks to be aware of. Travel puts employees in unfamiliar environments where incidents may occur. They may be in locations where they stand out from the local population and are unfamiliar with the local health risks, culture and customs.
Travel risks affect not only your current employees but also future employees and your company’s security and operations. It’s important to be prepared for any type of risk that may happen and to manage those risks appropriately.
“There is much more emphasis placed on health and safety procedures in the permanent workplace than on travel, even though travel brings a greater risk potential,” says Tracy DeBarr, a corporate account manager at Professional Travel Inc.
Smart Business spoke with DeBarr about how to develop a travel risk management plan and communicate it to your employees.
What risks can you run into while traveling?
There are five risks to be aware of:
- Risk to personnel — Crime, civil unrest, terrorism, illness and weather conditions.
- Risk to corporate reputation — Failure in duty of care, unethical behavior by employees and misuse of travel expenses.
- Risk to data/equipment/productivity — Protecting data carried by employees while traveling; lost, damaged or stolen baggage, equipment or personal items; protecting employee’s personal travel data; and failure to meet immigration requirements.
- Legal risk — Duty of care, data protection regulations, failure to comply with tax laws and illegal activity by travelers.
- Financial risk — Penalties for legal risk and misuse of travel expenses.
Are employers responsible for travelers?
It is your legal duty to protect your employees, whether they’re working in your facility or traveling off site. New laws, such as the Corporate Manslaughter Act, hold you responsible for anything that happens to your employees while on business in Europe. It provides a more effective means to prosecute companies for corporate manslaughter in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and corporate homicide in Scotland. The law punishes corporations for failure to properly manage the health and safety of employees and toughens the duty of care responsibility toward employees. The organization is held responsible for travel incidents instead of individuals within the organization. This applies to any work-related death or injury, regardless if the company is based in the United Kingdom or not, and is not limited to business travel.