Gone are the days when one can simply take off on a business trip without exposure to risks.
There are myriad ways personal safety can be threatened when abroad:
Health Risks
• Gastrointestinal problems due to water and food source
• Flu, Viruses and mysterious outbreaks due to infectious contagion
• Malaria, dengue and yellow fever that is insect-borne
Environmental Risks
• Altitude sickness, air pollution, cold or heat exposure
• Earthquake, Hurricane, Typhoon, Tsunami
Safety & Security Risks
• Airplane, bus, cruise ship, ferry, train and road vehicle incidents
• Accommodation, location to avoid
• Dangerous neighborhood or gangs
• Attacks, bag and luggage thefts, petty crime, uprising and outright acts of terrorism
The Unknown
• Otherwise harmless acts such as taking of selfies or photographs.
Photographers have been known to fall off from heights to their detriment.
• Distractions
Everything can appear interesting in a foreign land.
But watch the curb and potholes!
When moving towards something interesting, be aware of the road condition.
Here are some items traveling personnel and organizations can concentrate on to limit disruptions arising from risks:
1. Adequate travel insurance policy.
2. Vaccination.
3. Access to health providers, even in remote location.
4. Contact list of emergency numbers travel assistance providers.
5. Avoid having a concentration of employees in the same transport or selected locations.
6. Programs that review travel risks and response protocols.
7. Check security settings on laptops and other electronic devices.
8. Check ease of access in communication.
Emails has been known to lock one out when logged in from overseas.
9. Financial access.
Credit cards that prompt for password when making payment abroad cuts off needed funds.
10. Pre-travel risk assessments for destinations.
11. Employee travel tracking.
12. Dress for weather protection to avoid falling sick.
13. Carry a first-aid kit of essential medication.
14. Receipts as safeguards.
A delegate forgot to retrieve the luggage in the boot.
The taxi driver did not respond to frantic Lost & Found calls by the call centre.
Make it a habit to ask for receipts from cabbies.
Or take a picture of the licence in the cab where receipts are not available.
15. Travel Checklist.
Loss through confiscation can arise when packing rules are not observed.
Follow the 3-1-1 liquids rule for liquids, gels and aerosols packed into the carry-on.
Certain items (e.g. scissors, nail-cutters, penknife) have to be checked-in.
In some countries, plants and food items are not allowed.
Top of the checklist is the important travel document.
2 notable cases involve an expat flying with her pets. She had misplaced the permits.
Eventually, the flights have to be rebooked as she rush back to town to apply for new
ones. Her uncomfortably caged up pets endured longer than necessary rides in humid
weather.
A conference team had to fly ahead without its delegate tour leader, who had briefed
them on travel protocol. In the end, it was his own passport that was left behind.
We now have locks as an essential item on the checklist, after taking it for granted
that one of us would always remember to lock our luggage.
So the day came when we went on a tediously plotted shopping trip, check-in our
precious loot which also contains important business items, only to realise on the plane
that we had not locked the luggage. Luckily, the baggage handlers were honest. This is
not always the case.
16. Observe airline regulations
It happens even to frequent travellers.
On a business trip to Japan, where accommodation had to be secured months ahead and
paid in full due to critical shortage, we had checked-in well ahead of time for the flight
to Japan, only to lax up. We got distracted by the duty-free shopping and food zones,
and recall rather suddenly that there is a gate-closing time which was 45 minutes ahead
of the stated departure time.
Mad dash to the gate to loud excited chatters of the attending personnel who ran the bags
though security, and then ran along with us down the walkway as they escorted us in.
Strangely, we hadn't hear any announcements for our names. We were so late other
passengers had moved to our seats which they had to vacate when they saw us claiming
it. The plane lift off as soon as we sat - a record late for us.
That was a close call. We stand to lose thousands of dollars and yens in hotel penalty as
well as air-ticket charges, since the flights were all fully booked to the point of not
accepting wait-lists.
We were told by delegates later that we were lucky that the airline or the pilot was lenient
with us. One major airline had refused boarding to a business traveler for just being three
minutes late. Engrossed with checking emails, time slips by before he knew it. The airline
observe the gate-closing time to the dot, and would rather retrieve the check-in luggage
from the cargo, and re-book the passenger than allow him to board the the flight.
To our fellow delegates,
Be Alert, Be Prepared, Be Safe.
Bon Voyage.
