Duty of care in business travel isn’t optional, and it’s not just about ticking compliance boxes. If you’re sending employees anywhere for work purposes, you’ve got legal and ethical responsibilities for their safety and wellbeing that extend considerably beyond buying them a plane ticket and wishing them luck.
The legal framework is unambiguous: employers must take reasonable steps to protect staff from foreseeable risks. When someone’s travelling for business, you’re responsible for assessing dangers, providing appropriate support, and responding effectively when problems arise. This applies whether they’re visiting a client in Bristol or working on a project in Bogotá.
Foreseeable risk is the phrase that matters most. You can’t prevent every possible mishap, but you absolutely must prepare for scenarios that are predictable. Political instability in certain regions, health risks in tropical climates, transport safety in countries with poor road infrastructure – these aren’t surprises. Your duty of care in travel policies should address known risks systematically before anyone boards a plane.
Risk Assessment Before Departure
Risk assessment needs to happen before travel is even approved, not as an afterthought when bookings are already made. That means understanding the current security situation in destination countries, identifying health requirements like vaccinations or antimalarial medication, and flagging regions where your standard travel insurance won’t provide adequate coverage.
Generic risk assessments don’t cut it. The security situation in Jakarta differs from Bali despite both being in Indonesia. Business districts in major cities have different risk profiles than outlying areas. Your assessment needs to be specific to where your employee will actually be working and staying.
Pre-travel briefings should cover practical realities: local laws that differ significantly from UK norms, cultural sensitivities that could cause problems, common scams targeting business travelers, and areas to avoid. Someone traveling to Dubai needs to know that certain behaviors acceptable in London can result in arrest there.
Communication Systems That Actually Work
You should be able to reach travelling employees quickly, and they should be able to reach you without jumping through hoops. When there’s a natural disaster, civil unrest, or health emergency, waiting hours for responses isn’t just poor service – it’s a failure of your duty of care obligations.
Communication systems must work reliably across different countries and scenarios. That means not relying solely on local mobile networks that might fail during emergencies. Having backup communication methods – messaging apps that work over WiFi, satellite communication for remote areas – demonstrates you’ve thought through what happens when standard systems break down.
Daily check-ins via messaging apps take seconds and provide peace of mind on both ends. For higher-risk destinations, consider more formal check-in protocols at set times throughout the day. If someone misses a scheduled contact, you’ll know quickly rather than discovering a problem days later when they fail to show up for a meeting.
Emergency Support Around the Clock
Emergency support has to be available 24/7, not just during office hours. Business travel doesn’t conveniently happen Monday to Friday, nine to five. If someone’s stuck in an airport overnight because of flight cancellations, or needs urgent medical help in a foreign country, your duty of care requires immediate assistance.
That means maintaining relationships with ground support services in key destinations, knowing which hospitals meet international standards, and having consultants who can rebrand flights, arrange secure transport, or coordinate evacuations when necessary. Voicemail telling people to call back Monday morning is legally insufficient and ethically indefensible.
Your emergency protocols should be documented, tested regularly, and actually known by travelling staff. Too many companies have elaborate crisis plans that nobody’s read and wouldn’t work in practice because they rely on systems or contacts that are outdated.
Traveller Tracking and Location Awareness
Know where your people are at all times, not approximately or based on their original itinerary, but actually. GPS tracking through mobile apps provides real-time visibility without requiring constant manual updates from staff who’ve got enough to manage already.
Tracking isn’t surveillance; it’s basic risk management. When a situation develops in a specific city or region, you need to know immediately whether any of your employees are affected. That fifteen-minute head start on response can make enormous difference to outcomes during genuine crises.
Location data also helps with routine disruptions. If someone’s flight is cancelled, knowing where they are and what alternatives exist nearby allows you to proactively rebook rather than waiting for them to navigate it themselves while stressed and tired.
Insurance That Actually Covers Your Obligations
Travel insurance needs to genuinely cover the territories and activities your employees will be involved in. Basic policies often exclude high-risk locations, extreme sports, certain types of transport, or pre-existing medical conditions. The small print matters enormously when you’re dealing with medical emergencies abroad.
Medical evacuation coverage becomes critical in regions with limited healthcare infrastructure. The cost of air ambulance from remote areas can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Your insurance needs to cover this without complex pre-authorization processes that delay urgent care.
Verify coverage annually and whenever you’re sending people to new destinations. What was covered last year might not be covered this year if countries have been reclassified for risk. Don’t assume; check explicitly and document the verification.
Partnering with Specialists Who Take It Seriously
Your travel management company should be flagging risks proactively, not waiting for you to ask the right questions. Assistance with booking and managing work travel should include safety as a core component integrated into every booking, not bolted on as an afterthought or extra-cost service.
Look for partners who specialize in supporting companies operating in challenging environments. Generic travel agencies might book flights competently but lack the expertise to advise on security protocols, evacuation planning, or risk mitigation in unstable regions.
Why Choose Harridge Business Travel
Duty of care is embedded in everything we do at Harridge, not treated as a separate workstream. Our consultants provide detailed travel risk advice for every destination, helping you understand what your employees might face and how to prepare them properly before departure rather than scrambling during emergencies.
We specialise in supporting companies working in emerging markets and unstable environments. Our risk management service includes comprehensive traveller tracking, 24-hour emergency assistance staffed by experienced consultants who know your account, and proactive monitoring of situations that could affect your staff anywhere in the world.
The Tripscape mobile app provides GPS tracking, secure check-in functionality, and two-way communication that keeps everyone connected regardless of location. Automated alerts notify both travellers and your designated contacts when situations develop, giving you time to respond rather than react.
Plus, our 42 years of experience across sectors means we’ve navigated crises ranging from natural disasters to political upheaval to medical emergencies. When situations deteriorate, our consultants know how to respond fast – rebooking flights out of affected areas, arranging safe accommodation, coordinating evacuations when necessary, and keeping you informed throughout.
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