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Private Medical Insurance News - IPMI Magazine Breaking News

Wednesday, 09 November 2011 15:14

• 95% of companies sent employees on business trips to high risk locations last year.
• High growth, high potential BRIC countries are perceived to be amongst the highest risk locations.

Concern for employee health, safety and security is a priority, although companies increasingly understand the positive financial impact of "Duty of Care" and preparedness.

International SOS, the leading global medical and security assistance company, released the results of a global benchmarking study on how companies care for their employees abroad. More than 600 global companies were surveyed by International SOS over the past year, of which almost all (95%) sent employees on business trips to high risk locations. Lawlessness, terrorism, political upheaval, civil unrest and pandemics were identified as among the top 20 risks faced by employees abroad.

The high proportion of employees in high-risk locations underlines the pressing need of companies to consider seriously the security and medical provisions offered. Of additional interest is the survey's finding that the top 20 primary perceived high-risk employee locations include key high-growth and emerging markets. Mexico was rated as the highest risk location, with all the BRIC countries within the top 20: India (5), China (8), Russia (14) and Brazil (16). Four of the identified top ten risks were related to health issues, including illness, lack of access to western standards of medical care, infectious diseases and travel-related infections.

Despite the legal implications and medical costs involved in taking care of incidents, companies still perceived duty of care as primarily an ethical concern. "We are committed to helping companies, such as the Global 500, to implement effective duty of care strategies. Our study has found that such approaches are clearly linked to commercial success, and yet there are still varying levels of awareness among senior management and key stakeholders," explained Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of International SOS Arnaud Vaissie. "The global benchmarking study highlights the need for companies to focus on the best ways to pre-emptively protect their employees and - through them - their businesses."

Key findings: Most Dangerous Locations

Respondents were asked to a) identify the nations in which they have employees working, or where employees are regularly sent on assignment and b) to rank those nations in order according to the level of danger that organization believes is posed to employees, in terms of health, safety and security.

The study found that the top 20 perceived high-risk employee locations include key high-growth and emerging markets. Mexico was rated as the highest risk location, with all BRIC countries within the top 20: India (5), China (8), Russia (14) and Brazil (16).

Across these markets, lawlessness, terrorism, political upheaval, civil unrest and pandemic illness were identified as among the top-20 risks faced by employees abroad.

The top 10 nations perceived as most dangerous, by organizations that have employees operating in them, were as follows: 1) Mexico, 2) Nigeria, 3) Afghanistan, 4) India, 5) Pakistan, 6) Iraq, 7) Papua New Guinea, 8) China, 9) Democratic Republic of Congo and 10) Indonesia.

Additionally, 95 percent of responding organizations stated they dispatch international business travelers to regions they believe to be high risk; 74 percent said they have employees who are based in high-risk locations and 70 percent are on international assignment.

Most Commonly Occurring Incidents

Respondents were asked to identify the difficulties experienced by traveling and remotely located employees. The five most commonly occurring serious health- and safety-related concerns were lack of access to medical care, opportunistic crime, workplace accidents, road accidents and civil unrest. Seventy-five percent of responding organizations stated they had employees who experienced a health or medical emergency while travelling; 55 percent said affected employees had "lack of access to appropriate health care" at the time of need.

Sector-Specific Concerns

The study also assessed participant responses by the sector they represent. While there were many commonalities across sectors there were also some interesting discrepancies in the types of issues that are most vexing for certain industries. Among the highlights: the agriculture and agribusiness sector has pronounced concerns around civil and political unrest. The construction and real estate sector are most focused on risks associated with lawlessness, violent crime, and organized crime. The energy and natural resource sector has elevated concerns about remoteness of work locations, language and cultural estrangement, and road accidents.

Ownership of Duty of Care Responsibility

Finally, the study sheds light on a lack of consensus on who "owns," or should own, duty of care, and on where it should reside in an organization, with respondents most often citing human resource (HR), security/risk and corporate travel managers -- albeit with little clarity on which discipline is most suited to manage the task. The 47-page study, a summary of which can be viewed here, was authored by Lisbeth Claus, Ph.D, a professor of global human resources at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management of Willamette University. Dr. Claus, a Belgian national, is a former president of SHRM Global, then known as the Society for Human Resource Management.