Equip travelling staff with personal security strategies

You don’t feel good about it, but you have to send your staff to take care of business in a conflict zone. One night, he’s being driven back to the hotel in a company car when a truck rams him from behind in an unsavoury part of town.

If he’s at a loss as to what to do, you, as the head of the company, haven’t adequately prepared him for emergencies abroad.

But you’re not alone – a majority of corporations fail to train travelling staff in personal security. According to a study by the Forum for Expatriate Management on 204 organisations worldwide, at least 52 per cent don’t, despite there being a more-than-14 per cent chance that an employee will suffer a health and safety incident while on a business trip over the course of a year. These range from medical emergencies, including those that require an evacuation, to carjackings and kidnappings. One in 25 firms had someone die on them.

Online programmes exist to mitigate such risks, like International SOS’ eLearning Platform that provide, among other courses, training on road safety and women security awareness. Here are three numbers that may alarm you.

01: DOES YOUR ORGANISATION OFFER BUSINESS TRAVELLERS PERSONAL SECURITY TRAINING?

02: HAS A BUSINESS TRAVELLER IN YOUR ORGANISATION BEEN SUBJECT TO A SAFETY INCIDENT IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

03: WHICH SAFETY INCIDENTS HAVE BUSINESS TRAVELLERS BEEN SUBJECT TO IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS?