New international code of practice helps organizations safeguard their travellers

BSI and the International SOS have published a new code of practice advising organizations on how to address and manage the health, safety and security risks posed to their employees who are travelling for work.
A recent Ipsos Global Advisor study found that eight in 10 travellers have felt their personal safety could be threatened while abroad, and 71 per cent of senior executive travellers had experienced a medical problem abroad.
                                     
PAS 3001: 2016 Travelling for work – Responsibilities of an Organization for Health, Safety and Security – Code of Practice offers organizations recommendations on how to develop, implement and evaluate issues such as travel safety, health and security policy; threat and hazard identification; risk assessment; prevention strategies and incident management. 
 
“Global mobility has had a dramatic change on the way that we work today, affording both workers and organizations much greater flexibility but at the same time creating new risks. These risks must not go unchecked and, aside from everyday risks, there may be a significant difference between an assessed medical risk and an assessed security risk for a given location,” said Howard Kerr, chief executive at BSI, which is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. “These differences highlight the complexities organizations face when preparing workers for travel.”
 
An analysis of international business travel found that nearly one in three trips abroad are to countries with a higher medical or security risk rating than the travellers’ home country. 
 
PAS 3001 can be used by any organization with travellers, whether they are workers, volunteers or contractors, subcontractors or students. The code of practice is also applicable to organizations that provide health, safety and security assistance to other organizations. The PAS may be used on its own or integrated into an existing health and safety management system.
 
“While organizations have begun to consider response plans in the event of major catastrophes, we find the main risks to travellers are everyday incidents like petty crime, road accidents and falling ill,” said Arnaud Vaissié, chairman and CEO of International SOS, a medical and travel security risk services company. “That’s why it’s so important that organizations don’t wait until the next crisis and have a support plan and network in place to safeguard their mobile workforce.”