Safety during business travel

Traveller safety

The company must ensure safety regulations are followed and business travellers can be geo-tracked in order to allow their repatriation at any time if necessary. A travel approval process also allows the legitimacy of the trip to be validated.

Prevention is better than cure

Problems often occur suddenly and can be difficult to avoid. Getting to grips with accidents and incidents is all about anticipation and organisation. Anticipation is key to good organisation. In the context of business travel, anticipation allows you to consider all the potential risks in order to contain them, whether in relation to at-risk areas, climate risks, health risks such as epidemics, the risk of terrorism or even the risk of kidnapping. Anticipation relies first and foremost on prior comprehensive management of information.

Information management must include advice to travellers, in particular through the distribution of safety instructions, safety training and ongoing hazard monitoring. That’s why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides all the necessary information. In addition, the company must also keep up to date with legislation relating to the protection of employees during travel and take out an insurance policy covering loss and theft of baggage, assistance, medical expenses, and repatriation of travellers.

Crisis management

A crisis cannot always be avoided, so it’s vital that you set up a crisis unit within your organisation to manage crises as quickly as possible. GPS information about your employees allows you to track travellers at any time, wherever they are. A hotline allows your travellers to receive telephone assistance at any time. A dedicated assistance, evacuation and exfiltration department is one example of excellent organisation in emergencies. You must also be aware of the location of the closest hospitals to your employees in order to facilitate access to treatment if required.

As you know, information is key to good organisation when it comes to appropriate crisis management, especially if it is provided quickly and can be accessed at any time. Crisis management means knowing what’s happening any time, anywhere: knowing whether your employees are potentially affected and having the resources both to get in touch with them and to look after them if necessary.

Data security

Traveller safety is a priority but we must not forget data security and, more broadly, information security. Data that may be sensitive for your company.

Data management…

IS (Information System) security includes, first and foremost, comprehensive data management: its inventory, categorisation and protection. Data must be both available and accessible to employees, according to their accreditation, and be protected from outside attacks.

In addition to computer hacking that jeopardises data management, industrial espionage should also be taken into account. You need to educate your employees about good practices in this area. More recently, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) has taken an even tougher line on legislation regarding data management and protection.

…everyone’s responsibility

In an increasingly open and data-oriented climate where connected objects are growing rapidly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to protect data and safeguard equipment. However, this is an essential aspect of information security. At the office and when travelling, your employees must ensure their data, that of your company and even that of your customers is protected. The company must also ensure its partners and suppliers meet their security expectations. In particular, they should have ISO 27001 certification for software solutions.