The growing terrorist threat to travelling employees
Anvil Group director, Matthew Judge, says tough economic times are causing many organisations to put their staff at risk by sending them to unfamiliar destinations. Organisations which do not pay attention to employee safety will be cuaght out
Terrorist attacks are unpredictable, making it almost impossible to protect yourself entirely. The best and most obvious protection is to avoid travel to areas where there has been a persistent record of terrorist attacks or kidnappings. However, in the current economic climate businesses are looking for extra revenue streams from emerging markets and are willing to do business in areas that are associated with higher risks to ensure business competitiveness and profitability. Many organisations are therefore placing their travelling sales and executive staff at more risk by sending them to countries they have not traveled to in the past.
Most terrorist attacks are the result of careful planning where terrorists are looking for the most accessible targets as well as ways to create impact and attention. Though the end of 2008 saw global news reports of severe terrorist attacks, it is worth noting that most of these efforts are centralised to certain areas. Whilst countries like Iraq and Afghanistan continue to be more prone to terrorist attacks and kidnappings compared to European countries, it does not rule out the possibility of an attack. Incidents such as 9-11, 7/7 and the recent attacks in Pakistan, Mumbai and the conflict in the Middle East suggests that no country is immune to the dangers of terrorism or armed conflict.
If an employee is about to travel to a "high-risk" destination, it is important to ensure that a risk assessment is carried out on the country. This will enable businesses to ascertain which security measures are required to mitigate the risks. The key to mitigating risks is carrying out the appropriate due-diligence on the destination of travel. Businesses need to review the history of risks associated with the location and understand the methods and motivation of known terrorist or militant organisations operating in the area.
The benefits of pre-trip planning and intelligence are immeasurable but organisations still need to prepare for the worst with contingency and incident response procedures in case an incident or event occurs. For businesses to initiate immediate incident responses, a thorough risk solution is required. By partnering with independent specialists, organisations gain access to specialist knowledge and wide ranges of technology solutions that have been designed to aid organisations with risk management and employee safety. The leading security companies enable businesses to identify affected employees as well as other assets such as buildings and facilities at the touch of a buttons.
Another area where organisations need to provide further training to travelling staff is around the event of Kidnap & Extortion (K&E) or Express Kidnap. In the recent times Kidnapping has become preferred by terrorists and it was seen during the siege in Mumbai, where terrorists held several of the hotel guests as hostages. In certain countries such as Mexico, Express Kidnapping is on the increase and is more opportune with little planning.
The key to ensuring employee safety is to follow the following steps:
1) Have a Travel Safety Policy that is mandated and regularly reviewed.
2) Ensure that the policy is effectively communicated throughout the organisation.
3) Ensure employees are trained on appropriate security measures and evacuation procedures
4) Monitor for events and incidents that may have an adverse effect on travelling employees or other business assets.
5) Have processes and procedures in place so that in the event of an incident you are able to react quickly and effectively.
Another important aspect from protecting employees from acts of terrorism is to carry out a corporate wide audit to determine the levels of threats against employees and design appropriate emergency plans to reduce the risk of panic in the event of an attack. When carrying out an audit and planning the employee preparedness programme it is important to follow these steps:
1). Organisations should have an emergency preparedness team in place. Crisis avoidance specialists are an invaluable help as they are able to design and implement corporate wide plans against terrorism. Organisations must encourage communication with the team so that everyone knows about the safety infrastructure
2). When employees are travelling to a potentially dangerous location, it is important that organisations carry out audits on the employee themselves to determine vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks. Discussing potential emergencies with employees is the most important step in developing a plan for protection.
3). Organisations need to consider the different types of terrorism and the threat it presents to an employee. Businesses must take into consideration the nuclear, bio and agro terrorism and determine the impact of each to the corporation and its employees.
4). Ensure that the employee is familiar with the policies and of their travel surroundings and possible safe havens, such as hospitals, police stations, hotels and so on. When booking a hotel for the employee, it should be part of the corporate policy that hotels have a safety and security systems in place. These systems include sprinklers, back up power and lighting as well as televisions and radio stations that can broadcast emergency information in disaster situations.
5). Ensure that the employees leave copies of all critical documentation at home and at the office. This is to ensure that replacements can be sourced if they are lost, stolen or destroyed in an attack. Organisations should also look to secure and vital company IT equipment, such as laptops and PDAs. This is to ensure that any vital information is not lost or stolen during an attack.
6). Set up a crisis telephone number and make it known to all employees. This is to ensure employees have a number to call into if they are caught in the middle of an attack. Some leading crisis avoidance specialists can also facilitate such a number and man the phones 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
Through appropriate due diligence and training prior to any business related travel, both businesses and travellers can be sure that their trip will go ahead with minimal disruption and issues. It is important to note that organisations who do not pay any attention to their employees travel habits or safety related issues will ultimately be caught out by a terrorist attack and other threats to the employees health and safety. In the global office environment, there is no room for "it can't happen to me" attitudes.
Mathew Judge
Director The Anvil Group
For further information about pre-trip intelligence and how to prepare in case of a terrorist attack, please visit: www.anvilgroup.com
The Anvil Group is an internationally renowned single source security organisation, specialising in 'Crisis Avoidance Services'. Anvil has a proven track record in offering a comprehensive range of end-to-end services that provide physical, technological and information security systems in the global marketplace. In the ever increasing and demanding global environment coupled with international responsibilities and duty of care, Anvil has continually impressed its clients to the extent of its global reach. Anvil's network of global intelligence, international contacts, quality of personnel and customer-focused service have been keystone qualities that resulted in its rapid growth and success. The Anvil Group has discreetly served individuals and corporations since 1988
