Whether on or offshore, the work and lifestyle of a remote rotational worker is unique.

While lucrative for some, it has long been associated with a high impact on mental health and wellbeing. A ground-breaking global report from the International SOS Foundation and Affinity Health at Work, ‘Mental Health and the Remote Rotational Workforce’, provides in depth insight into the psychological impacts of this unique mode of working. The new study¹ highlights evidence of the high level of suicidal thoughts, clinical depression, impacts on physical health (such as diet) and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this workforce.

Dr Rodrigo Rodriguez-Fernandez, Medical Director Wellness and NCD’s, International SOS, commented, “There is an urgent need for increased focus, understanding and strategies to mitigate mental ill health and promote better metal health of the remote rotational workforce. This is highlighted in our survey, which uncovers significantly high levels of critical mental ill health issues, including suicidal thoughts and depression. The COVID-19 environment has also added increased stress on this already pressured working arrangement.”

Key study findings:

• 40% of all respondents experienced suicidal thoughts on rotation some or all the time (compared to average of 4-9%). 1 in 5 are feeling suicidal all or most of the time.
• 29% met the benchmark for clinical depression whilst on-rotation.
• 52% reported a decline in mood, and their mental health suffered whilst on rotation.
• 62% had worse mental health than would be the norm in a population. While off rotation, this remains at a high of 31% experiencing lower mental health than the general population.

Burn Out

The study also exposed that almost a quarter (23%) of the remote rotational workers surveyed experienced emotional exhaustion on a weekly basis. 46% experienced higher stress levels while on rotation and over half (57%) were not engaged in their work. 23% reported that they received no psychological support from their employers.

Dr Rachel Lewis commented, “We would expect burn out to be between 2-13% in the general population, so the almost quarter that we see from the survey is particularly high. Burn out can have a serious impact both personally and professionally, on the ability of an individual to carry out their role. Remote rotational work may come with the perks of higher pay, but with its propensity to be isolating at the best of times. On and offshore, working pressures and varying shift patterns also add their weight. And this is not to mention the impact of the current pandemic, which has seen may remote workers unexpectedly away from family and friend networks for longer than anticipated.”

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

• 65% experienced increased job demands.
• 56% increased working hours stress, anxiety
• 49% concerned for personal safety (before pandemic?)
• 1/3 became increasingly lonely
• 23% had more negative physical symptoms (such as headaches and stomach issues)

The Tip of the Iceberg

Dr Rodriguez-Fernandez continues, “Mental and physical health are intrinsically linked. Organisations and individuals with a Duty of Care to their remote rotational workers should have visibility and a plan of support for their workforce encompassing both.”

• Over a third exercised less (35%)
• 38% experienced worse-quality sleep (38%)
• Over a quarter (28%) were less able to eat a nutritious diet whilst working

On the flipside, the majority of respondents felt that their health and safety was prioritised. They report a strong sense of community and support among co-workers and from managers. Many also felt that they could share their mental health concerns with colleagues.

The full report, including practical recommendations on mitigation measures for companies is now available here. A live webinar on the findings is also taking place on 29 April 2021.

1. ‘Mental Health and the Remote Rotational Worker’ synthesizes global data, including interviews with industry stakeholders, an extensive review of existing literature and an in-depth survey of 200 remote rotational workers. The respondents were from mining, offshore and seafaring/maritime based in; 59% Asia,15% Middle East, North Africa,15% Africa, 3% Europe, 3% APAC (Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea), 5% Americas. 46% categorised themselves as employees, 33% managers and 21% did not categorise. 81% male. Average age of 41 years. 70% of respondents were married. 95% had no history of, or current diagnosis, of any psychological issues.

Healix International combines cutting edge technology with best in class medical and risk intelligence for highest levels of duty of care.

While the debate continues about 'air bridges' to open up international travel between certain countries, there is a clear imperative for business to re-open around the world. But for many organisations the big issue is how to keep employees safe and well while simultaneously resuming global operations and maintaining profitability.

"Businesses cannot operate via virtual conference tools forever; business critical travel needs to resume, and for many, that needs to happen now", commented Mike Webb, CEO of Healix International. "However, employee expectations and legislation have drastically changed in the wake of COVID-19 and organisations across every industry are faced with the difficulty of demonstrating their duty of care obligations to their employees in an incredibly complex operating environment, particularly when it comes to weighing up the risks of international travel.

"COVID-19 has turned the entire concept of travel risk on its head. For the first time in a generation, risk is highest in parts of the world that have historically been considered the safest, and these countries account for more than 90% of global business travel. Logistical and operational restrictions across the world are changing by the day. And information related to COVID-19 and necessary measures to reduce transmission remains vast, ambiguous, highly complex and often incomplete. Even the most well-resourced organisations are struggling to stay on top of the magnitude of information that is published each day."

In response Healix International is launching 'COVID Travel Safe'. This one-of-a-kind product is a layered risk assessment tool that has been designed to enable business travel within a pandemic, and to provide instant assessments of the medical and logistical risks posed by each and every unique proposed travel itinerary.

Healix International Chief Medical Officer, Dr Adrian Hyzler explained: "We know that in this incredibly challenging time, all businesses need to be supported in resuming operations and providing an increased duty of care to their travellers. This tool allows any organisation to have the confidence to deploy employees safely and with the knowledge that those travelling do not pose a high medical risk of severe disease."

The 'COVID Travel Safe' tool works to protect employees and organisations as follows:

LAYER 1: 'COVID Travel Safe' online tool

The platform experience begins with the user answering a number of questions about their intended trip alongside a COVID-19 specific medical questionnaire. The 'COVID Travel Safe' tool will then generate a medical risk assessment. This assessment combines information about an individual's medical risks with data around the local pandemic conditions and logistical factors in the country of destination. This information is incorporated into an instantly available risk assessment document that the traveller can download.

Healix International's unique methodology measures a range of sub-risk factors including pandemic trend and COVID testing access, alongside practical concerns such as travel bans and curfews. Developed in-house by the Healix International panel of medical experts, the online tool calculates a medical 'risk score' for each individual. Behind the scenes, Healix International's team of medical and risk professionals closely monitor the science, government restrictions and logistical risk environments around the world. This ensures that the information driving 'COVID Travel Safe' is up to date and representative of the pandemic's evolution.

The online tool will provide an automated summary assessment of whether the traveller should proceed with their intended trip. This determination is delivered in the form of a 'traffic light' system of Red, Amber and Green. In the event that the traveller receives a Red assessment, risk factors warrant the individual reconsidering their need to travel. 'Green' indicates that the tool has not identified any major concerns with the intended trip, therefore booking can proceed. In the case of an 'Amber' result, a follow up consultation with Healix International's medical and/or logistical risk teams is recommended.  

LAYER 2: Personal Assessment

For those travellers who flag as 'Amber' there is the option to automatically integrate an escalation to the Healix International in-house medical and logistical risk teams for a personal assessment. The company's experts can review the report and provide customised advice on the associated risks. This advice then enables the traveller to make a more informed decision about the medical risks and the potential logistical complications. If required, Healix International can also work with employees to arrange pre-deployment COVID-19 tests and navigate unique logistical complexities. This layered approach provides the convenience of an easy-to-use online tool, seamlessly integrated with a more personalised expert service.

Further Customisation

The 'COVID Travel Safe' tool is highly customisable and able to sit on an organisation's own systems, conveniently integrating the risk assessment and trip approval workflow. Risk managers are given access to a separate login that allows them to track the requests and manage traveller support services where required. Healix International is also able to integrate travel policy rules, manager approvals, security information and ground support request forms to ensure that travellers can transition through the entire risk assessment and approval process in one efficient visit.

Employers can schedule a demo by contacting Healix International at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

At GBTA2017 in Boston last week, Concur® announced the global availability of Active Monitoring along with Concur Locate, the latest version of its risk management platform, previously known as Concur Risk Messaging. 

Active Monitoring from Healix International (and their US division, HX Global), enables companies of all sizes to experience the benefits of a global security operations centre without the infrastructure and headcount. The security experts at Healix actively monitor the global security environment 24 hours a day and within minutes of a serious incident occurring are able to identify clients’ employees that could be impacted, instantly initiating two-way communication to ascertain if they need assistance. Previously, a powerful global security solution of this scale was only available at a high cost to large enterprises where resources are managed internally.

Declan Meighan, Global Managing Director at Healix International explained how Active Monitoring and Concur Locate are able to more accurately identify employees at risk compared to other travel tracking tools. “Most travel tracking tools only capture a % of the travelling population due to the fact that some employees book travel outside of the TMC programme.  This figure is roughly 20% per client which means a fifth of the travelling population are unaccounted for and will not receive the relevant location specific risk intelligence and requisite response during a crisis.  The Concur Locate platform allows access to much more granular traveller information ensuring that employees are well informed and supported at all times.

“Furthermore, Active Monitoring covers a client’s expatriate employees and local nationals as well as their travellers as a result of the integration of HR data within the Concur Locate platform, providing a much more comprehensive solution to duty of care.”

Keeping clients fully briefed throughout from initial incident right through to resolution also ensures that they have the knowledge needed to brief stakeholders and for effective decision-making in fulfilling their duty of care.

For more information: http://www.healix-international.com/services/active-monitoring/

Healix International is a world leader in global travel risk management and international medical, security and travel assistance services. Working on behalf of multinational corporations, governments, NGO’s and insurers, Healix are relied up to look after the welfare of millions of expatriates, business travellers and local nationals living and working in every country of the world, 24 hours a day.  Many of these people reside in the most remote, challenging and hostile of environments.

iPMI Magazine Travel Insurance News. Avoid forking out thousands of pounds to be repatriated in an emergency, book mid-floor rooms in hotels to escape break-ins and take out insurance that covers all your summer sports. This is just some of the advice for holidaymakers being given by global assistance and claims management company CEGA, as part of its summer campaign to increase awareness of lesser known holiday risks and encourage uptake of travel insurance.

CEGA's advice comes in the wake of new data from ABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) showing that over 25% of travellers set off abroad without travel insurance in the last year; up 3% on the year before.

Dr Tim Hammond, CEGA's chief medical officer, says, "We are increasing awareness of the fact that, for a small outlay, travel insurance could save holidaymakers tens of thousands of pounds if disaster strikes in a far flung corner of the world.

"Every year we repatriate hundreds of holidaymakers who have become ill or seriously injured on holiday overseas, some from very remote areas. Not all of them have travel insurance, but none would risk setting off abroad again without it."

CEGA's other warnings to holidaymakers include advice that ice cubes used to chill drinks in developing countries can cause diarrhea, that having an accident after a night of heavy drinking could invalidate a travel insurance claim and that the EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) only covers basic state medical care.

CEGA's research into travel insurance claims for 2016 shows that gastroenteritis is among the most common causes of claims from holidaymakers in developing countries and that France, Spain and Turkey top the list of European countries producing summer claims.

Today’s interconnected world and global economy means that increasing numbers of employees are required to travel extensively overseas, often for long periods of time, to multiple destinations and frequently to very unfamiliar environments. In this white paper Healix International helps us navigate the maze that is travel risk management and explains the fundamental elements of a professional Travel Risk Management Program.

An employer’s ‘Duty of Care’ towards their personnel has become more complex and increasingly topical. This is especially true when employees are working in remote or dangerous locations where local security and medical facilities are likely to be substandard, ineffective or completely lacking.

Employees working in less developed countries may find that the support networks they are used to just don’t exist. They may feel vulnerable and at risk when operating in areas where levels of crime are high or there is an elevated risk of terrorism and governments are volatile. No longer is it acceptable for companies to ignore such issues.

Ensuring the health, safety and security of employees when working overseas is key to staff well-being and productivity but it is also essential in the protection of the company’s brand and reputation and is key to ongoing success.

To help you navigate the maze of Travel Risk Management options available, we have put together a series of key ‘Best Practices’ that, depending on the size and scope of your organization, should be implemented  to provide you and your employees with a robust support system to attend to the myriad of issues facing today’s business traveller.

Elements of a Travel Risk Management Program

The illustration above captures all of the elements that a robust Travel Risk Management program should contain, though not all organizations would require these resources to be in house. Some elements may be present in other existing programs or attended to by third party providers based on the size and scope of your organization. Each element should be assessed and mapped within your organization’s Duty of Care program.

We take a closer look at each element and what is considered best practice for most organizations operating globally today.

Medical and Security Assistance 

Best Practice: Mobile employees should be provided with 24/7 access to medical and security resources. It is best practice for your employees to have access to services on a global basis that meet the health and safety standards of their home country.

So, what does this mean? Well it means that your travelling employees should have direct line access to doctors, nurses and security professionals in cases of concern or crisis, regardless of location or time of day. More importantly, they should feel confident that their call will be answered and managed to conclusion by professionals that can escalate their needs accordingly without unnecessary delay. Finally, they should have access to trusted sources of global support, centres of excellence and advice.

By providing access to appropriate 24/7 resources, employers are demonstrating an investment in their human capital, protecting their brand and reputation, while also limiting corporate liability.

Travel Assistance

Best Practice: Mobile employees should be provided with 24/7 access to travel assistance professionals.

Attending to medical and security situations often carries a greater sense of urgency, however other travel issues such as lost or stolen travel documents, legal or language support is equally as important to the well-being of the traveller and the success of the trip. Through the proper provision of resources, employers can ensure that minor situations are quickly dealt with and don’t impede on the traveller’s success. Again, these services should be provided on a global basis in order to fulfil Duty of Care.

Pre-Trip Information

Best Practice: Global organizations should provide pro-active, relevant medical and security information to their travellers and expatriates before they leave their home country. Pre-trip advisories should be automatically provided to employees on booking their travel along with additional information that is readily accessible via links to a customized travel website or ‘portal’.

In today’s ‘mobile’ world it is important that the information provided is customizable in both depth of content and how a traveller wishes to consume it. By providing relevant and actionable information that is easily accessible, employers can raise the level of awareness and mitigate many of the risks.

As we are never too far away from our mobile devices, content rich apps fulfil many of the needs of today’s traveller. Content available can and should include information such as prevailing medical risks and required vaccinations through to travel alerts and warnings pertinent to crime or natural hazards.

Medical Screening

Best Practice: Expatriates and their dependants, and business travellers are medically screened prior to overseas assignment and action taken to minimise any identified health risks.

Many of the illnesses and health related problems suffered by business travellers and expatriates while overseas are both predictable and preventable. Every year large numbers of travellers and expatriates are sent overseas with pre-existing medical conditions and little or no knowledge about how these conditions can best be managed in their destination countries. This can result in major disruption, failed assignments and in many cases serious illness, unplanned medical evacuations and significant costs.

Medical Screening provides an evaluation of potential medical risks involved in any overseas assignments. Screening can be conducted online or over the telephone and the risks are usually calculated by a highly sophisticated analytics program. Screening can help ensure that employees and their families are well prepared for overseas travel and are not put in a position where their health is placed at an unreasonable risk. Host-country healthcare facilities and their ability to deal with pre-existing medical conditions are understood, prescription regimes can be modified where necessary and ongoing medical advice and support can be provided.  Importantly, it helps employers understand the financial risks of certain assignments as well as providing a clear audit trail of proactively managed Duty of Care.

Global Security Intelligence 

Best Practice: Management responsible for the welfare of personnel travelling or working overseas must have access to actionable, near real-time security intelligence. This information must be supported by 24/7 access to highly experienced security risk professionals.

Along with the information that is provided to the traveller pre-trip it is equally as important that those charged with managing the safety of deployed personnel have instant access to more granular security intelligence in near real time. This information helps managers and business leaders to make more informed and strategic decisions concerning their travelling workforce, especially in rapidly deteriorating environments. Additional threat and evacuation reports should also be readily available should situations escalate.

Security Training and E-Learning 

Best Practice: Global organizations should provide travel security training to their travellers and expatriate personnel as part of a certification process.

Training today should be seen as more than just an orientation exercise. Providing travellers with the most up-to-date form of travel awareness training addresses many risks prior to travel. It ensures that travellers are aware of the safety measures they should take while abroad, and can be used in a pre-trip approval process.

Not only does this again demonstrate an investment in an organization’s most valuable asset but it can boost productivity and increase the success of a project.

The training should include testing on completion and these scores should be documented to ensure appropriate compliance with today’s Duty of Care standards.

Mobile Technology 

Best Practice: Companies of all sizes should utilize today’s technology to quickly locate individuals and communicate with them as well as utilizing other essential functionality.

It is important that employers use mobile technology to their advantage as time taken to locate employees during a crisis is directly proportional to the outcome of their health and safety. Supporting protocols and policies allow technology to streamline locating employees, minimizing human error and allowing limited resources to be focused for maximal impact, enabling a rapid response.

Instant access to ‘actionable’ intelligence via a mobile app keeps travellers updated of developing situations and travel apps with a Mayday function can alert nominated contacts as well as enabling live tracking in a crisis.  Apps today are commonplace, however it is essential that they provide expatriate employees and business travellers with instant access to critical insight and support before, during and after their overseas assignments.

Risk Messaging and Travel Tracking 

Best Practice: Companies should be utilizing technology to locate and communicate with individuals regardless of how they make their travel booking.

By automating the collection of employee travel data through itineraries and traveller check-ins, organizations have a complete view of their staff and operations in near real-time, capturing employee locations. Systems should be set up to capture and verify all the travel data, work and employee locations and display them in one common operating picture. From this dashboard, managers should be able to quickly assess risk and contact personnel on a routine or emergency basis. Intelligence must be sourced, vetted and pushed to travellers, expats and VIPs or other professional users within the organization in as near real-time as possible.

It is important that the organisation has the ability to fully integrate a mass notification system to communicate with all global employees.

By integrating these systems, a robust pre-trip approval process can be implemented allowing for management oversight, adequate training and the provision of additional support services such as drivers, executive protection, medical and security briefings as well as passport, visa and vaccination checks.

Medical Staffing and Emergency Response Plans 

Best Practice: Organizations should ensure that they have adequate medical support for all major projects, sporting events and at remote sites.

During any large event, where demand for medical support may be compromised or slow to respond, it is important that organizations plan and resource effectively to protect the health, security and well-being of staff, guests and any others under its charge. Where traffic due to large crowds or other situations may impede the arrival of emergency response vehicles, it is important to pre-stage vehicles and staff near work sites or living accommodation to ensure appropriate response times.

Physicians, nurses and other medically trained professionals should be available to react immediately in the event of any medical emergency.

Large sporting events such as the Olympics may require accommodation such as hotel suites to be converted into clinics to allow for easy access to routine or emergency medical care.

If the group is of a certain size or complexity, additional consideration should be given to co-locating an emergency coordination centre to manage calls for assistance or provide other support such as language translation and security assistance.

Recent events such as the FIFA World Cup and Olympics in Brazil illustrated the complexity of working in an environment where risks are prevalent and the basic infrastructure strained. Thankfully, nothing major occurred but should something have happened it would have been vitally important to be as self-sufficient as possible, having a set of pre-determined plans in place and the resources already staged and ready to respond to ensure the safety of all concerned.

Infectious Disease Planning 

Best Practice: Employers must have a holistic travel risk management policy and plans in place for the purpose of business continuity, risk mitigation and readiness in a crisis.

Having an overarching travel risk management plan is the first important step that should encompass travel readiness and safety, trip approval and crisis readiness including consideration of infectious diseases, pandemics and natural disasters. Additional localized plans may also be necessary for specific projects or remote sites and employers may offer additional online training across the enterprise to better support the employee base.

An All-Hazard Approach

It is important to acknowledge that it is best practice to consider an all-hazard approach when developing a vigorous Travel Risk Management program, one that is integrated into the enterprise risk management portfolio.

When engaging a third party provider to fulfil these requirements, consider companies that offer a greater range of experience and capability. Consider a company reputable for assessing the wider needs of a business that can tailor a service to suit your own requirements. Choosing to implement a Travel Risk Management program makes sure that you are fully prepared and able to respond in the event of a crisis overseas, thus creating a more resilient company.

About Healix International

Healix International is a world leader in global travel risk management and international medical, security and travel assistance services. Working on behalf of multinational corporations, governments, NGO's and insurers, Healix are relied up to look after the welfare of millions of expatriates, business travellers and local nationals living and working in every country of the world, 24 hours a day.  Many of these people reside in the most remote, challenging and hostile of environments.

 For more information on travel risk management programs please visit: www.healix-international.com

 

Organisations are not doing enough to ensure their travel risk strategies are fit for the 21st century realities of business travel and fulfil their legal duty of care, according to Airmic which has published a guide for risk professionals on travel risk management. 

Business travel has grown by 25% over the last decade, the report notes, with businesses sending employees and other people they are responsible for to a wider range of territories including high or extreme risk regions. In addition, the nature of terrorism has changed such that low-risk destinations can become high-risk in a matter of hours. 

Businesses have a legal duty of care to protect their employees – which may include contractors and family members – and yet only 16% of Airmic members surveyed have high confidence in their travel risk management framework.

According to the report, insurance – while important – is not a sufficient mitigation strategy, especially in today’s fluid and complex geopolitical environment. Businesses also need reliable sources of relevant intelligence and flexible and pre-rehearsed plans in place to ensure a quick and proportionate response to any crisis impacting its people. 

“Sadly every week we are currently reminded why having an effective travel risk management framework in place is imperative. As the tragic events in Westminster, Manchester and more recently on London Bridge and Borough Market demonstrate, any destination can become high risk at an intense speed,” Julia Graham, Airmic’s deputy CEO and technical director, commented. 

She added, “I urge all risk professionals to review, update and rehearse how they would respond should such an incident impact their organisation. Knowing where your people are and how you can communicate with each other in the event of a crisis is especially important.” 

The guide also notes that today there is a greater diversity of people undertaking business travel. Organisations therefore need to risk profile each travel destination in view of their own policies for diversity and inclusion. 

The report, Travel Risk Management, was produced with International SOS and Control Risks. It sets out good practice for risk managers and provides a travel toolkit to help organisations improve their pre-, during- and post-travel policies. It offers advice on buying insurance, noting that it is “vital”  organisations understand any exclusions and consider the impact of business travel on long-term covers, including those for permanent health and life assurance. 

To read the report paper click here.

International Assistance and Travel Risk Management Program News: UNIGLOBE Travel Management Companies will now offer Crisis Assistance Plus (CAP™) as a part of their Travel Risk Management Program.

A signature product of FocusPoint International, CAP™ is today’s most comprehensive travel assistance membership program available to individual and corporate travelers alike. Under this preferred supplier relationship, UNIGLOBE leisure customers will be able to add CAP™ at the time of booking online. UNIGLOBE corporate customers can elect to add short-term CAP™ protection or purchase annual memberships for their travelers.

“UNIGLOBE Travel can now integrate CAP ™ into the travel experience at the point of booking,” says Greg Pearson, President and CEO of FocusPoint. “Travelers can seek advice if necessary and coordinated in-country assistance for a wide array of health, safety, and security-related travel risks. CAP™ demonstrates the social responsibility and duty-of-care commitment of Travel Management Companies such as UNIGLOBE Travel, and we’re pleased to introduce our fully-funded travel assistance solution into their ecosystem.”

“UNIGLOBE Travel entered into this relationship to enhance the travel experience of our customers as it relates to safety and security during the travel experience,” says Martin Charlwood, President, UNIGLOBE Travel International. “The CAP memberships stand out because they provide us the visibility we need and the protection our customers have come to expect.”

As a low-cost and fully-funded membership program, CAP™ is an affordable enhancement to any insurance plan contemplated by business and leisure travelers. Key benefits provided at no additional cost include:

• 24/7, 365-day access to security, crisis, and medical professionals to seek advice and assistance.
• Immediate medical attention up to and including evacuation to a home hospital of choice.
• Crisis response up to and including shelter in place and evacuations for incidents such as terrorism, criminal violence, political threats, and social unrest, kidnap for ransom, extortion, natural disasters, or a pandemic outbreak.

XL Catlin has officially launched Protect and Assist its accident and health insurance solution designed to help UK businesses protect their people and meet their duty of care in the face of emerging risks and heightened security threats.

Protect and Assist offers global coverage and works by combining comprehensive personal accident and business travel insurance with a wide range of support and response services designed to:

• Reduce and prevent risks before people travel. The policy allows for the review of a client’s travel risk policy or the provision of one. It also includes pre-travel medical assessment, for employees going overseas for long periods, pre-travel medical and security expert advice and detailed preparation reports for current ‘high risk’ areas or perils.
• Provide assistance and support to people where and when they need it. The solution has an extensive list of benefits which includes expert medical and security crisis response and evacuation, access to an identity theft helpline, emergency cash advance, and lost baggage location and 24/7 access to qualified counsellors.
• Provide insurance cover when things go wrong at home or abroad, with our personal accident and travel insurance. The policy covers death or permanent or temporary disablement. The solution is for all employees, with no pre-existing conditions exclusion, and coverage is available for all trades, occupations or activities.

Additionally a bespoke approach to claims handling means quick claims settlements - small baggage and money losses usually settled within 24 hours.

A key feature of Protect and Assist is that clients can effectively build their own solution by cherry picking from the very broad services and coverages XL Catlin has made available.

Commenting Patrick Corbett, Global Head of Life, Accident & Health at XL Catlin, said: “In developing this solution we recognised we had a great opportunity to totally rethink what a client wants and needs and to build from the ground up a modern product that serves business today.

“I believe we have achieved that by providing not only insurance but a solution which proactively strengthens and supports a client’s duty of care, protecting their greatest asset, their people, from unexpected risks in the workplace and when travelling for business.”

XL Catlin will also be launching Protect and Assist in Spain and Italy shortly.

To help businesses provide appropriate duty of care for traveling employees and volunteers, Seven Corners, Inc. has introduced a travel medical insurance plan with broad benefits and a streamlined purchase and enrollment process. SecureAbroad does not require a detailed list of travelers and travel dates, but instead allows businesses to buy a bank of travel days that ensures their staff members are protected the moment they leave their home country.

“We recognize the need for a business product that bundles medical benefits and travel services to protect employees and volunteers when they travel abroad,” said Jim Krampen, co-founder of Seven Corners. “Businesses today are focused on ensuring proper care for traveling staff members. SecureAbroad not only includes the necessary benefits a business traveler might need but also offers a convenient and affordable solution for companies that schedule multiple travel itineraries per year.”

As a true travel blanket protection product, SecureAbroad provides quick annual coverage based on an estimate of the number of staff members who will travel abroad during the upcoming year and the length of time they will travel, eliminating the need for a detailed census of travelers. In addition, the plan has no deductible or coinsurance, which simplifies the claims process and increases coverage.

SecureAbroad offers three coverage options to protect employees from take-off to touch-down and every point in between. Personal security and medical benefits include:

• Medical expenses for injuries and illnesses including emergency care, ambulance services and more;
• Dental expenses in case of pain or accidents;
• Emergency medical evacuation and transportation to the closest appropriate medical facility;
• Political evacuation and transportation if a formal recommendation to leave a country due to political unrest occurs;
• Medical care for injuries or illnesses due to terrorist activity;
• Natural disaster evacuation to the nearest safe location;
• Access to Seven Corners Assist, a 24/7, multilingual travel assistance team trained to handle emergency and non-emergency travel situations.

 

Meeting duty of care obligations when an employee travels abroad is much more than a box-ticking exercise – and it needs to start well before an assignment overseas.

Jonathan Brown, Risk Team Manager at CEGA, the global risk, assistance and claims specialists, shares some pre-travel tips with employers:

Health

Be prepared for every eventuality – and go well beyond pre-travel vaccinations. Just for a start, you need to think about the current health needs of your employee/s: for instance, do they rely on regular prescriptions or are they diabetic - and do accompanying family members suffer from any medical conditions?  Also find out about the capabilities and limitations of local routine medical and dental care in situ. Will it meet your employee's needs or will you have to provide access to extra support? And you'll need to know about the prevalence of contagious diseases, rabid dogs, poisonous stings and unsafe drinking water, as well as the suitability and accessibility of emergency care. Above all, make sure your employee/s can take the right precautions and knows exactly what to do and who to contact in an emergency.

Security

Find out if the political situation is stable and if conflict or terrorism is likely to strike in the future – and remember that things can change quickly. Is it safe for your employee to walk around alone at night or during the day, or is kidnapping and mugging prevalent? Do they know how to avoid unwelcome attention and cultural clashes?  What about protecting themselves against credit card or mobile phone cloning or insecure Wi-Fi networks? It's up to you to have the right processes in place to keep them safe and to make sure they know how to mitigate risk and react to security threats.

Environment

Get advice about the climate: is there a danger of excessive heat or cold? Are earthquakes, hurricanes or floods likely? Let your employee/s know the procedure if a natural disaster strikes. And educate them about heatstroke and other heat-related problems, or how best to cope in plunging temperatures.

Emergency assistance

How will you locate your employee/s if an emergency strikes? Could an evacuation be implemented quickly and what would it involve? How do you know that your emergency planning will work? Will your staff know exactly what to do? A matter of minutes can turn a minor incident into a catastrophe - but planning ahead with real-life scenarios can help to avert this.

Reassurance

Make sure your employee/s feel supported and prepared, not just for their destinations but also for their journeys. Many employers forget that travel itself can be hazardous, especially if it involves crossing high-risk countries. Anticipate the risks before a deployment overseas and put in place the appropriate safeguards, training and procedures. You won't just be meeting duty of care obligations, you'll also be investing in a safe and productive workforce.