A Guide To Travel Risk Management

What Is Travel Risk Management

Preventing, anticipating and properly reacting to travel hazards while on business trips encompass travel risk management. These protocols and policies cover a variety of situations, including pandemics, natural disasters, public health events, terrorism, social unrest and dangerous weather.

Corporate travel safety policies help businesses identify potential risks that may come along and prepare the necessary contingencies. The two main objectives of these policies include:

1. Reduce the chances of experiencing incidents, threats and emergencies.

2. Prepare a plan if situations escalate into an actual threat to business travelers.

These aspects come as part of a company’s call of duty and obligation to keep staff and employees safe on the road and plan for all hazards. So, security and travel managers must be proactive and keep their preparedness processes up-to-date. Consulting with a seasoned travel risk management company can help businesses formulate and implement these policies and procedures.

How to Build a Risk Management Program for Travelers

Before sending employees on a trip, travel managers must anticipate potential security, safety and health risks. The development of safety policies and programs involves several crucial steps:

1. Define the travel procedures and policies clearly and ensure the compliance of everyone going on business trips.

2. Use real-time data and information when making travel decisions, such as the current or future travel restrictions in countries employees travel to, COVID rates and any potential transportation issues.

3. Provide pre-travel training to help employees stay safe during their trips. This training should cover health and safety, basic on-the-road skills, tourist traps to avoid in each destination and crucial information about the country or region they’re visiting.

4. Develop a risk assessment framework to help managers assess security concerns and potential threats. This will help organizational leaders to better evaluate traveler safety. A company’s safety framework should cover political instabilities, limited rights for the LGBTQIA+ community, entry requirements for each country, regional crime rates, endemic diseases and potential natural disasters that may occur during the trip.

5. Profile each traveler and prepare their unique travel needs. For instance, some personnel may need certain medications not available in the country they’re traveling to, so they must secure supplies before flying. Will their religion or gender place them at any degree of risk?

6. Create a communication and support plan. Employees need to have the means to access support and contact safety managers if they have incidents during their travels. Employees should be given emergency contact numbers they can call and other lines of communication they can use. The goal is for employees to have someone to call to help them manage the incident.

7. The risk management policies should include processes for reporting incidents and what employers can do to provide the needed support on the ground. In addition, policymakers should include procedures employees can follow in case they get sick or get involved in an accident during the trip.

What To Include in Policy Templates

Each company and its employees will have unique needs, so risk management policies should be formulated to suit their business. However, several crucial sections should be covered in these policies:

1. Scope of the Policy
   Travel policies and risk management plans should begin with the scope that covers the duty of care obligations, risk assessment, risk identification and mitigation. In addition, this section should explain the reasoning behind established travel policies and procedures.

2. Duty of Care, Employee Roles and Responsibilities
   This section covers the roles of each party concerned, from the employees traveling to the managers providing support. It should also mention the relevant departments involved and all other stakeholders. It should outline responsibilities and how policies should be enforced.

3.  Planning, Travel Approval and Route Tracking
   This section should detail how travels will be planned and approved, how employees will stay in touch with travel managers, modes of travel, accommodations and other details of a business trip.

4. Safety Risks to Consider
   This section covers the safety risks that should be considered during a business trip:

   • Entry requirements such as documentation and health certifications

   • Endemic diseases, which may require the vaccination of employees

   • Overall regional security concerns such as crime rates, potential threats and local hazards

   • Natural disasters, including information on the best time of the year to travel to a particular country

   • Any political instability that may impact travel conditions

   As mentioned earlier, policies should outline the traveler risk profiles of each employee going on a business trip. After all the risks have been assessed, travel policies need to mention who will approve and sign off on a potential business trip.

5. Travel Risk Assessment
   Travel risk levels often change, so managers should keep abreast of their travelers' risks. Risk assessment should be performed before trip approval. Policies should include the following:

   • How to conduct and document risk assessment procedures.

   • Procedures should be outlined to assess the current health condition of employees going on trips. Determine whether employees will face potential health risks or if they will require any medical care while away.

   • This section should outline the procedures employees should take in case airlines or hotels cancel their bookings. It should also mention who is responsible for booking new rooms, flights or trips on land.

   • Outline travel itineraries and who is responsible for them.

   • Provide details on the high risks present in the destination country.

   Managers should quantify the risks being assessed, which helps to identify their potential likelihood and impact:

   a. High Impact Risks: This includes contracting life-threatening diseases, flight crash risks and getting detained abroad. Planning should focus on foresight and the possibility of avoiding the trip until risks have been reduced.

   b. Medium to Low-Impact Risks: These include threats and inconveniences that can be mitigated and managed. This list includes delayed flights, severe weather conditions, and jet lag.
   
   

   After the risk assessment process has been outlined, steps should be mentioned regarding travel approval and reporting.

6. Incident Reporting

   Outline steps on how employees should report travel incidents. These steps allow travel managers to respond and provide support promptly. It should also state managers' responsibilities, what they should do during an emergency, and how employees can access the needed support.

7. Insurance
   An important section of any travel risk management policy should address travel insurance coverages. The details here should explicitly mention the events and other items that will be covered and insured. It should also cover reporting incidents, losses, valuations and the steps necessary to make insurance claims.

   For instance, there are insurance policies that cover theft. The policies should be clear if an employee’s travel insurance covers personal items lost during a business trip. An example of this includes the theft of one’s personal cell phone and not just company-issued devices.

   
   

   Pre Trip Planning

   Traveling is riskier than one might imagine. For example, state Department records show that around 800 people die each year when traveling abroad. One of the best ways to manage this level of risk is to plan trips carefully.

   For instance, consider getting employees vaccinated before their travel date. The CDC’s travel website offers plenty of vaccination information, which will be useful. In addition, countries are often categorized as high risk, elevated risk and watch list.

   Risk Mitigation

   
   No one can control risk factors during travel, such as the weather or flight delays. However, there are methods that travel managers can use to minimize the impact of these risks through adequate preparation.

   For instance, by taking proactive steps, business leaders can check severe weather bulletins and forecasts. They can reschedule trips, find other flights and have employees pack appropriately.

   On the other hand, flight delays can be considered more of a travel disruption rather than an emergency. The key here is to ensure employee productivity when delays occur. For instance, you can have your staff attend meetings online instead of in person if they can’t make it to the office in time.

   Help employees prepare for weather conditions in their destination. For example, provide cold weather safety tips if they’re traveling to countries experiencing sub-zero temperatures. Reinforce the importance of providing self-care, educate them regarding potential cold-weather injuries and help them prepare an emergency winter kit. Pre-trip planning goes hand in hand with risk mitigation, so plan accordingly.

   Work with a Seasoned Travel Risk Management Company

   Working with an experienced travel risk management company will help your business manage business trips. At CI Azumano, we combine our industry expertise with market-leading technology and reporting to help you manage risks during business trips.

   
   Our expert travel consultants can help you find ways to protect travelers and save money during business trips through travel policy and supplier management services. Get the managed travel program you need today. Fill out this contact form to learn how you can best manage travel risks and boost productivity.