Fears about terrorism, natural disasters and pandemics are prompting some corporations to develop crisis plans that include travel implications. However, security experts are reminding clients that such crimes as laptop or identity theft are far more common.
Speaking to Midwest Business Travel Association meeting attendees last week, Los Angeles Police Department detective Kevin Coffey said identity theft is considered the fastest-rising crime in America. Also president and CEO of Corporate Travel Safety, Coffey cited an OAG Report from 2004 indicating that on the road, airports and hotels are the most likely locations for crimes against travelers.
More than 600,000 laptop thefts occurred in 2003, resulting in a loss of $5.4 billion worth of proprietary data, according to Safeware Insurance. Loss estimates do not include the cost of notifying individuals of breaches of data protection laws, which is now required in 26 states and several foreign countries.
To better prepare travelers, an increasing number of corporations, including Amgen, ExxonMobil, Honeywell and Motorola, are training travelers as part of a comprehensive travel safety management program, often linked to disaster plans. Coffey trains employees on how to avoid becoming victims by showing them videos of common distractions and scams at airports and hotels, but there are also plenty of basic tips. Among them: keep laptops locked using security cables available for as little as $30; require ground transport suppliers to use color and number systems rather than employee names to find arriving passengers in airports; consolidate and internally post preferred vendor contacts to more easily identify those who can help in an emergency.
On transient and meeting hotel requests for proposals, Coffey encouraged travel managers to determine whether any violent crimes had occurred on property during the previous 12 months (specifically deaths, sexual assaults and robberies). He suggested they also ask whether the property had lost any master keys. Particularly for meetings, he said, they should find out how meeting rooms, laptops and projectors are secured, who is responsible if they are stolen and whether a shredder is available. They should also determine how many CPR-qualified employees are available.
In addition to a policy and plan to address traveler safety, Coffey urged corporations to develop a methodology to verify that contact information is updated at least once a year, backed up and available 24/7. Traveler profile databases with photos can also be a huge help in the event of incident, he noted. Corporations should also distribute laminated emergency cards with a number for a 24-hour help desk that is equipped to respond to any emergency and create a database of employee skills, such as CPR or emergency response. He explained how one client painfully learned of the need for such knowledge when an employee at a meeting died of a heart attack while another employee, who served as a volunteer emergency medical technician, was attending a meeting in the next room.
To succeed with travel safety management, Coffey added, travel managers must gain the internal support of corporate security, risk and safety managers, information services, human resources, medical advisors and travelers--as well as external support from their travel management companies and other preferred travel vendors.
"All corporate travelers should be mandated to only use the authorized corporate travel agency, so all employees can be tracked at a moment's notice," Coffey said.
Shell U.S. travel services manager Debra Reid questioned whether a TMC could quickly handle a large influx of calls. "Don't rely solely on your TMC to assist you," she said while speaking at this month’s Association of Corporate Travel Executives conference in Atlanta. "Data privacy laws dictate what they can and cannot do for your travelers."
Working on a collaborative plan with human resources and other Shell departments, as well as the TMC and other suppliers, Reid said the company established its own call center, staffed with internal employees, to avoid data privacy issues.
Regardless of who runs the emergency response desk, Coffey said, it's critical that responders have all information necessary at their fingertips and can reach decision-makers in the event of crises large or small.
Related resource: http://www.kevincoffey.com/safety_tips_index.htm