Business travel plays a crucial role in the progress of organizations, irrespective of their size. Employees undertake trips as part of their job to fulfill several objectives.
These may include business expansion, vendor development, customer service, training, trade-fair participation, and business conferences. Like any other travel, business travel is not immune to risks. Employers have to handle the safety and well-being of employees traveling to distant locations to meet the legal and moral goals of the business. Hence, corporate travel safety is a critical aspect of business travel.
What is duty of care?
Duty of care mandates employers to accept moral and legal obligations toward the safety of employees. Developing and implementing a corporate travel safety policy is crucial. Travel risk management enables the implementation of such policies. Knowing the significance of ensuring employee safety and taking proactive and reactive measures to extend necessary support to employees is the essence of corporate travel safety.
Most employees know how to avoid risks and take care of themselves. However, there is always a possibility of something going wrong because of uncontrollable factors. Theft, natural disasters, illnesses, injuries, and terrorist attacks are a few uncontrollable situations impacting corporate travel security.
Employers must establish processes to ensure the business travel safety and security of their employees in unfamiliar places. They should provide efficient communication facilities and develop systems to send real-time alerts to avoid risking the employee’s safety. Ensuring local support in times of emergency, like evacuation measures, is necessary.
Must Read: What Is The Duty Of Care Meaning And Its Importance
What are the safety risks while traveling for work?
Corporate travel safety is vital to successful business travel as it protects employees and their belongings from possible safety risks. Several situations can influence the safety of employees during outstation assignments. Knowing some of these is vital to create an appropriate corporate travel safety policy.
1. Health and hygiene
Health issues are prevalent during business trips because of exposure to extreme climatic conditions, jet lag, food poisoning, or water contamination. Taking appropriate precautions like vaccination and getting in touch with help in time assist avoid major health issues. Ensuring safe drinking water, eating healthy food, and avoiding excessive drinks may also prevent health risks.
2. Secure accommodation
Staying in cheap hotels exposes business travelers to theft. Corporate travel managers should research and create an inventory of safe accommodation options. They should choose hotels with safety measures like CCTV cameras, security guards, and emergency fire exits.
3. Political instability
Trade union strikes, protests, and other political situations can disturb travel plans and impact corporate travel safety. A corporate travel safety policy must incorporate precautions while planning business trips to politically sensitive destinations. Providing efficient means of two-way communications, periodic safety alerts, and information about emerging situations are a few measures to safeguard employees.
Why is corporate travel safety important?
Though it is the legal obligation of the organization to ensure safety of the employee, they should do it for moral conduct. Here are some of the points why corporate travel safety is important:
- Safeguard the employee well-being against various travel risks such as accidents, health hazards etc.
- To fulfill the legal responsibilities
- Preserve the reputation and brand image of the organization
- Enhance the productivity and employee trust on the company
- A good corporate safety policy will help in reducing medical costs and legal fees
Key components of a corporate travel safety policy
A sound corporate travel safety policy should include costing, employee well-being, company’s image all at once. Here are some of the key components that should be mentioned in the corporate travel policy:
- Travel approval process: Companies should have a travel authorization and approval process that aligns with organization’s policy.
- Pre-travel risk assessment: As business trips are exposed to travel risks, the safety policy should consider all the things that can go wrong.
- Travel insurance: Corporates should tie-up with authentic and renowned insurance companies to tackle emergency situations
- Safety guidelines and communication protocol: Organizations should set up clear guidelines to ensure safety on travel. They should also maintain a support line for quick communications.
Safety tips for the business traveler
Performing a thoughtful risk assessment is crucial for every individual business trip because the threat perception may change according to the location and time of the business travel. Business travel risks are constantly evolving, and prediction of events requires an in-depth understanding of current affairs.
1. Create a custom travel safety policy
Employers can ensure meeting their duty of care by creating a tailored corporate travel safety policy. They should include industry-specific and standard safety guidelines besides training processes and tools to improve employees’ safety while traveling.
2. Using a travel management program
Advanced travel management software programs provide real-time travel safety alerts, allowing employees and TMCs to implement proactive measures. The policy should be a comprehensive document listing all aspects of travel safety tips and standard protocols in the event of an emergency.
3. Employee tracking
Continuous tracking of employees is a helpful feature of reputable corporate travel management solutions. Itinerary tracking enables employers to know the exact location of an employee if any travel risk is probable. It is an important business travel safety tip.
How to ensure the safety of employees who are traveling alone?
Here are some of the important points that one should consider to ensure safety while traveling alone:
- Corporate should provide thorough pre-travel information and resources
- Managers should risk assessment and itinerary review
- Travelers should have emergency contact information
- Managers should provide preferred accommodation and transportation providers
- Become aware of the traveling location and organizations should provide travel insurance coverage
Conclusion
The perpetually changing travel risk landscape mandates proactive measures to ensure the safety of employees during business trips besides duty of care obligations. An all-inclusive corporate travel safety policy and adopting a high-end travel management platform with in-built corporate travel security tools will provide necessary safety coverage to employees.
Paxes is a SaaS-based corporate travel management platform with efficient corporate travel safety features. It offers reliable duty-of-care services with real-time safety alerts, and round-the-clock chat-based support to connect with rescue teams.
Corporate Travel Safety Measures FAQs
How does Duty of Care help Corporate travelers?
Duty of Care policies include policies that legally and morally support the traveler, thereby ensuring the traveler security and safety from any risks. Duty of care policies help corporates analyze risks and provide effective support and solutions for any problems.
What is a travel management program?
A travel management program is a program with which the travel management companies and the corporation can operate and manage business travel for its employees smoothly and efficiently.
What is a custom travel safety policy?
Under custom travel safety policy, corporations are also allowed to customize the travel policy according to their industrial and organizational needs for an effective and efficient process of managing travel for businesses.
How can business travelers be safe while traveling?
Business travelers can be safe while traveling in many ways, such as through security policies, employee tracking, and an effective travel management program.
What is the risk of political instability in business travel?
Any major political activity leads to hindrances in business travel planning as it can result in a temporary suspension of flights or the cancellation of an event due to an emergency. Political information or events must be taken into account while planning a business trip.
What are the safety rules for Corporate Travelling?
Always carry identification and necessary travel documents. Stay aware of your surroundings and avoid high-risk areas. Use reliable transportation and avoid traveling alone at night. Keep your valuables secure and avoid displaying them in public. Follow the travel policies and guidelines of company.
