Event and Travel Security | C&IT Corporate Summit

Tom and Nicki Presenting at the C&IT Corporate Summit

31.07.2019

Today Tom and Nicki presented at the C&IT Corporate Summit 2019, and below is an overiew of their presentation and the main points they raised:

In a recent survey, 80 % of business travellers said that safety concerns had impacted their productivity whilst on business trips (Global Business Travel Association).

It is therefore advisable that event planners and employers understand the environment in which attendees will be travelling in order to recognise the potential risks and implement a mitigation strategy.

Whether you have your own team travelling for business meetings or you are organising events and taking group’s overseas, companies have a responsibility to keep their travellers safe and comply with duty of care legislation.  Travel Risk Management and duty of care is not just linked to how well your organisation responds to a problem or crisis – but rather how well it can prevent that problem from happening in the first place. Planning is key:

Know your traveller | itinerary, accommodation and travel details. Who are they meeting? Keep a record of personal details including NOK, passport information and immigration status.

Know your destination | Understand the area you are operating in or sending your travellers or delegates to. Specifically the political, operational, security, terrorism, travel and environmental risks.

Know the limitations of your traveller | Things like language barriers, travel experience, cultural considerations or health and medical issues.

Know the limitations of your destination | infrastructure, roads, communications and medical facilities.

Know the limitations of your organisation | Regularly test your travel, crisis, communications, health & Safety systems and policies.

Know what to do when it goes wrong | Not only does your company need to know what to do in an emergency – they need to know who to contact to make decisions both internally and externally.

 

When things do go wrong there can be direct and indirect costs to the company: medical treatment, the cost of changing travel plans and itineraries, brand reputation and legal costs, staff retention or recruitment and also workplace confidence and wellbeing. HOWEVER when organisations do get it right, it makes employees feel valued and gives travellers additional confidence when conducting business abroad. 

So how can you empower your mobile workforce and business travellers?

1. Firstly, by looking at your current policies and procedures and identifying the gaps on a per event basis. Implement training and traveller briefings and ensure your Event Managers are up to speed with all of your risk mitigation strategies for that destination.
2. Provide your travellers access to information – not just information about their flights, ground transportation or hotels, but also intelligence on the risks and hazards they may face on their trip. These risks will vary from country to country and region to region and can include crime levels, terrorism or any no go zones. Detail mitigation strategies to help your travellers.
3. Medical considerations. The risk of disease – malaria, zika, even sexual health considerations at their destination. Advice about critical medical infrastructure is important – a brief google search of the local A&E’s and trauma facilities that may be available in your destination in case required.
4. Most importantly, give information about what to do in an emergency – in line with your company policies and complete with emergency contacts. This may include emergency services, diplomatic representation, local embassies and your insurance company details.

It is also important to keep in mind that travel risks are not static and can frequently change depending on the season, political landscape and natural events. There are many resources available that can assist with keeping your travellers safe and we have detailed some key measures, processes, guides and toolkits that can be adopted to mitigate risk at future events | https://priavosecurity.com/event-toolkit/

It is important to remember, that although the security landscape is continually evolving – we can continue to do business successfully with the correct risk mitigation strategies in place.