Duty of Care, an increasingly important function of the travel manager

The growing outsourcing of Spanish companies in recent years requires them to pay greater attention to the safety of their travelers. Thus, the so-called "duty of care" is becoming more important among the functions of the travel manager, as revealed at the first Forum Business Travel Breakfast, with the participation of Healix Spain.

“España has the best healthcare system in the world, but ? what happens when we travel abroad?With this question in mind, Forum Business Travel has held its first Breakfast thematic—on this occasion focused on risk management—Healix, the world's leading company in the provision of medical care, security and travel assistance services, with a network of 22.000 hospitals and clinics in 190 countries.

Managing these three aspects in a comprehensive and global manner has become essential in many cases, taking into account that, with the exception of the large Ibex 35 corporations, “there are not many companies that have an adequate security and risk management policy”, according to &A´lvaro Muñoz, CEO of Healix Spain.

In his opinion, “we have gone from an obsolete reactive model to a proactive concept, to anticipate any possible incident. It does not mean that things do not continue to happen, but in this way the response is much faster and more effective.Of course, in recent years technology has also become a real protagonist, especially in communication and geolocation tasks.

On many occasions, when it comes to natural disasters, armed conflicts, kidnappings and other situations of real danger, insurance is not enough, also because in some destinations there are no assistance services. Many companies are not aware of this. They also do not offer a clear and unified protocol so that the traveler knows who to call and how to act in case of need.

For the expert Agustín Casado, the travel manager has to be well prepared at a táctical, logístico and operational level. “We are no longer going to Brussels to do business. We go to Nigeria, the jungle of Brazil or the desert of Mali”, reminds. This means going beyond just anticipating the type of documentation, medical records or vaccinations required...““You even have to take into account the culture of the country you are visiting”, a añade.

Casado recommends that companies with a certain level of travel create a security department and carry out simulations with the insurances contracted to learn about their coverage and weak points. The third leg is the constant communication with the traveler.

It is true that some people refuse to be permanently contactable and the regulations are not very clear in this respect, although what the law on occupational risk prevention does say is that the company is responsible for what happens to its employees from the moment they leave their home until they return home.

Finally, Dave White, director of sales and marketing at Healix International, stresses thatin the last 15 years there have been many changes in the world, so the challenges for traveler safety are constant. What is really important, in addition to knowing which sites are safe and which are not, is how we react to an incident.

A recent survey of British and U.S. business travelers found that 38% do not inquire about the safety of a destination before visiting it. In addition, 67% of companies do not have a clear security policy. Most strikingly, 78% of employees do not have an emergency phone number when traveling outside their country for work purposes.