Nowadays, the world is so connected and easily accessible that business now requires people to fly to the other side of the world in order to sell products, meet clients and establish potential partnerships.
However, as a business sending employees to travel into uncharted territory, it’s vital that you have your wits about you. After all, if they’re travelling around a strange place with potentially sensitive and private documents in hand, there’s an obvious risk of danger.
To ensure your next business is safe with your employee’s wellbeing in mind, here are eight tips to remember.
Duty of Care Requirements
As a business, you have a responsibility known as a duty of care. This means you need to accurately assess any potential risks that your employees might come across during their travels and show proof that you’ve evaluated their health and safety, well-being and whether any precautions need to be taken.
Individual Employee Needs
Every employee is different and will need different things taken into account when travelling on behalf of your business. “For example, while one employee might be a confident traveller, they may suffer from a condition such as asthma, which will need to be taken account at every stage of the journey. Be aware of the medical facilities available in the country you’re travelling too” – explains Nathan Roach, a Safety Manager at Ukwritings.
Education is Key
When it comes to your employee travelling abroad, be sure to spend time educating them about the country that they are visiting. This could be anything from the way that transport system works to the culture and certain movements or phrases that should be avoided and could risk getting them into trouble.
Invest in Business Travel Programs
There are many business-friendly travel safety programs out there, such as AIG that have their own business travel policies. These programs can work with you to help you identify potential hazards and problems that could occur on your trip and can help you prepare for the unexpected.
Make Sure You Cover Potential Health Problems
While many countries are safe to travel to, be sure to check out a detailed insight into the current health condition of the country that your employee is visiting. In some cases, vaccinations or medical checks may need to be conducted well in advance, sometimes even months, which is why you need to start planning everything as soon as possible.
Create an Emergency Plan
In the event that something does go wrong, no matter how big or small, make sure you’ve put in the time to create an emergency plan. Barbara Taylor, a Health writer at Oxessays says: “For example, you’ll need to ensure your employee has access to emergency contacts they can get in contact with and an emergency plan if they need to come home at a moment’s notice. In the event of something like a natural disaster, set up ways in which the employee can contact their friends and family with ease.”
Invest in Travel Insurance
Let’s face it; it doesn’t matter how much you plan and organise things, there is still the chance that something completely out of the blue is going to happen. To help protect you and employee’s well-being, be sure to invest in travel insurance for them on their behalf that covers everything from luggage loss to medical expenses.
Join Loyalty Programs
This is more of a tip just to help your business save money and make the most of their travelling experiences; it’s a wise idea to sign up to loyalty programs. “Many of the existing programs already off business versions of their packages and can save you so much money if you’re travelling regularly on flights and staying hotels” – comments Milagro Abney, a Safety writer at UK Top Writers.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things you’ll want to consider when it comes to ensuring your next, and all future, business trips take place. Just remember to stay organised, plan for the worse and be prepared. It’s better to be prepared, and nothing happens to something happens, and nobody knows what to do next.
Author bio:
Gloria Kopp is a recruiting manager at Paper Fellows. She is a blog writer and editor at Revieweal and is a regular contributor at The Tab and Boomessays blogs.