{"id":19255,"date":"2011-11-05T14:07:35","date_gmt":"2011-11-05T13:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/risques-proteger-les-voyageurs-daffaires-20111105.html"},"modified":"2016-02-10T09:56:58","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T08:56:58","slug":"risks-protecting-business-travellers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/risks-protecting-business-travellers","title":{"rendered":"Risks - Protecting business travellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the combined effect of increasingly stringent legislation and recent international events - the ash cloud in Iceland, the latest earthquake in Japan, the political turbulence in the Middle East, etc. - companies are tending to attach more and more importance to risk prevention and the safety of their employees. Because natural, social and political events affect them. And often more than we realise. Operating in an increasingly uncertain world, companies are not immune to events over which they have no control: earthquakes, terrorism, kidnappings, air or rail accidents, and so on.<\/p>\n

And these dangers are just as real for expatriates posted abroad on long-term assignments as they are for their employees who regularly travel on business. Jo\u00ebl Gosset, Sales and Marketing Director of International SOS, comments: \"With the globalisation of markets, employees are required to work in increasingly isolated areas. It is essential for companies to demonstrate their ability to protect them, just as it is important for these employees to have access to assistance services to deal with any eventuality.<\/em><\/p>\n

If a risk arises, the company's activity may be adversely affected, or even suspended for a relatively long period. That's why it's so important to have an effective monitoring system in place, given the wide range of potential hazards. A number of specialist companies operate in this field, including Anvil, ConTGo, Riskline, iJET, S\u00e9curit\u00e9 Sans Fronti\u00e8res (SFF) and International SOS, which formed a strategic alliance with Control Risks in 2008.<\/p>\n

These world leaders, in integrated medical assistance and security risk management respectively, have thus enriched their existing service offerings. This joint venture brings together a pool of experts to ensure the protection of international travellers and expatriates, while offering their companies the means to assist them wherever they may be. It offers four types of service to companies: travel risk analysis, 24\/7 security assistance and support in implementing security risk management consultancy solutions - including training, auditing and evacuation plans.<\/p>\n

The fourth part involves providing information and tracking travellers according to their location on the planet. Thanks to our medical presence in 70 countries, including around thirty clinics in emerging countries, we are able to provide an appropriate response to our customers in the event of a dengue epidemic or a case of malaria\", continues Jo\u00ebl Gosset. Being both preventive and reactive, we are also active in the field of security, deploying crisis logistics during major political events\".<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Europ Assistance, for its part, has signed an agreement with Crisis Consulting. \"To support companies in all aspects of risk prevention, we have developed the www.ea-mysafepass.com<\/a> which includes fact sheets on almost 190 countries, with information on health and safety risks, hospital infrastructures and an e-mail alert service,\" explains Sabine Schirrer, Travel Marketing Manager in Europ Assistance France's Sales and Marketing Department. For each country, we calculate a mobility risk index of between 1 and 5\".<\/em> This index takes into account terrorism, kidnapping, transport, accommodation and risks from all angles: criminal, natural, social, political and health. For example, on 10 May 2011, a country like Israel was rated level 3. And even 4, if we look only at terrorism and social risk.<\/p>\n

As a result, while travelling on business, employees may find themselves in a dangerous situation in a particular country. In order to be able to geolocate travellers, we strongly encourage them to declare their business trips on our www.ea-mysafepass.com portal,\" continues Sabine Schirrer. If the situation deteriorates in the country or city where they are, we send alerts to their human resources department or to the travellers\".<\/em>. Unique and secure, this travel declaration system provides customers with completely confidential data.<\/p>\n

\"LimitingLimiting travel-related risks<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
Depending on their marketing strategy, these information and alert providers offer their services either directly to companies or to travel agency networks. Sometimes they even use both distribution channels. This is because the major travel agency networks also help their customers to manage events linked to business travel. Through CWT Guardian, Carlson Wagonlit offers security solutions that include \"standard<\/em> or \"improved<\/em> through iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, a leading professional risk management company. For its part, American Express offers the \"Business Continuity Suite<\/em>a service made up of a series of products accessible via an online platform: a tool for tracking travellers' journeys - the famous \"Track Point<\/em> - and a solution \"mobile<\/em> which gives employees access to essential information in times of crisis.<\/p>\n

So that this protection for travellers on the move is no longer the exclusive preserve of large groups, some networks, and even business travel agencies, are starting to offer it to their customers. In July 2010, for example, Egencia set up a partnership with Red24 to locate travellers throughout the world via an online tool listing employees and the details of their trip: date, flight, hotel, etc. A matrix classifying countries by risk makes it easy to visualise factors linked to terrorism, crime, the political environment and infrastructure. It also offers its customers access to its own geolocation tool at no extra cost. This tool, called Traveller Tracking, stores all reservation information: GDS for air travel, the SNCF website for rail travel, and information on hotels integrated into its own system.<\/p>\n

Frequent Flyer Travel Paris (FFT Paris) has just signed an exclusive agreement with S\u00e9curit\u00e9 Sans Fronti\u00e8res to integrate its SFF Locator software. As a result, at no extra cost, customers of this Paris-based agency have access to 24-hour alerts, which can be issued either on a mass or targeted basis. If, for climatic reasons, flights are cancelled in France or abroad, employees due to travel that day can receive a text message in the middle of the night. On the other hand, if an SNCF strike is announced, the system will alert the company's HR department or travel manager.<\/p>\n

\"By signing this agreement with SSF, we can reach a large number of small and medium-sized businesses whose structure and number of journeys made it impossible to envisage the implementation of a permanent and instantaneous geolocation solution\".<\/em>explains Marc Leidelinger, president and founder of Frequent Flyer Travel Paris. How does the software work? Operational since November 2010, SFF Locator automatically records travellers' journeys, from the moment the flight is booked until the actual return. It does this by integrating data from the travel agency's centralised passenger file management systems. In this case, SFF retrieves data from the Sabre and Amadeus GDSs.<\/p>\n

Risk management solutions - Selection criteria<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
To choose the right business mobility insurance policy, you need to assess the extent of cover. Does the policy only cover business travel, or does it also cover private life? Geographically, what areas are covered? Abroad, but also France? What about benefits and the amount of cover for medical expenses? For example, Europ Assistance's Integral Pass covers medical expenses up to \u20ac1 million. What about exclusions and situations where cover does not apply? It's best to opt for a solution that provides for early return in the event of an attack or natural disaster.<\/p>\n

Risk prevention and management solutions<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
Another useful feature is a dashboard that allows you to see at a glance where your staff are or will be travelling, on a map of the world, by zone or by country and according to a list of criteria including, among others, country, city, date, flight, train, hotel, airport and company. Depending on the company's travel policy, other options can be activated, such as the sending of safety and health reports at the time of booking, and alert messages - automated or otherwise - during the journey. \"We have designed a comprehensive and professional tool that brings together, for the first time, the skills of a business travel agency and a specialist in international risk management\".<\/em>says Pierre-Jacques Costedat, CEO of S\u00e9curit\u00e9 Sans Fronti\u00e8res.<\/p>\n

Travelling regularly throughout the year, business travellers need to leave with peace of mind so that they can be fully operational during their missions. Risk management companies such as International SOS, SSF and Europ Assistance offer tailor-made solutions for businesses. Europ Assistance has recently extended its range of mobility insurance for professionals, offering three solutions: Pass Int\u00e9gral, Missions and Expatriation. Each of these solutions, which can be taken out by companies, covers up to eight people travelling anywhere in the world, with no exclusions. In partnership with Crisis Consulting, Europ Assistance has also signed a Risk Prevention guarantee (health, natural, security and political risks), including on-site intervention in the event of a proven crisis. In financial terms, the company covers repatriation costs for political reasons up to \u20ac8,000 per person per year. Under the Mission and Expatriation Passes, cover for medical expenses has been increased from \u20ac150,000 to \u20ac160,000.<\/p>\n

\"Risk<\/p>\n

1 ) Taking measurements<\/em><\/strong> to ensure the safety and protect the health of their employees is one of the obligations of companies.
2 ) The resulting mess<\/strong> in European skies by the eruption of the Eyjafj\u00f6ll volcano has highlighted the growing importance of geolocation for travellers.<\/em><\/p>\n

Depending on the risks, the company may have to take the decision to evacuate its staff. Recent examples include political unrest in Egypt and the Middle East. However, giving the go-ahead for the repatriation of travelling employees or expatriates entails costs invoiced by the company carrying out the mission. For the \"repatriation guarantee\" to apply, an official evacuation request from the French government is required. And even then, specialist companies set a ceiling on the costs they will cover. Generally speaking, risk management specialists cover repatriation costs up to a maximum of 8,000 euros per person. In practice, however, the Quai d'Orsay rarely recommends evacuating French nationals abroad.<\/p>\n

Employer liability<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
On the legal front, regulations have been tightened since the Karachi attack in 2002, in which eleven expatriate DCN executives were killed. Security professionals are now talking about a \"Karachi jurisprudence<\/em> referring to the decision of the Rennes Court of Appeal of 24 October 2007. \"It was the responsibility of the employer, who could not be unaware of the dangers incurred as a result of the threat of terrorist attacks, to ensure that the security measures in place were strictly applied and even reinforced\".<\/em>the court ruled.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Article L.4121-1 of the Labour Code defines the company's duty of prevention in the following terms: \"The employer shall take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health of workers. These measures shall include action to prevent occupational risks, information and training measures and the introduction of appropriate organisation and resources. The employer shall ensure that these measures are adapted to take account of changing circumstances and aim to improve existing situations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The employer may therefore be held liable. Under article L 230-2 of the French Labour Code, employers have a legal obligation to ensure the safety of their employees,\" says Sabine Schirrer. What's more, under article 121-3 of the French Criminal Code, they are liable for any physical risks incurred by expatriates.<\/em><\/p>\n

The risks of double insurance<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
To cover civil liability, ticket cancellation and baggage loss, companies can take out travel insurance with companies such as Mondial Assistance, Europ Assistance, Axa Assistance or l'Europ\u00e9enne d'assurances. However, in addition to this proliferation of contracts, companies often take out insurance with their business cards, which can sometimes cover them for the same risks. However, this double insurance can be useful when employees do not use their business card to pay for their travel.<\/p>\n