Page 11 - Best Practice in Travel Risk Management 2019 - Forum Findings

Best practice in travel risk management 2019
“The reason I use malaria as an example,”
says Renshaw, “is that it is reasonable to do something about it yet every year we deal with fatal cases of malaria where we evacuate their mortal remains back home and that should not be happening.”
Travel risk managers can learn a lot from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the oil and gas industry, which can help with benchmarking their programs. Take a good look at their underlying principles,
he says; NGOs, in particular, do very thorough
More organisations are providing teleconsultations to provide advice to employees, even though the method attracts some controversy among medical practitioners.
The outcomes of teleconsultations are mostly favourable, says Renshaw. As more countries allow prescriptions to be issued by teleconsultation he expects their use will increase.
But the availability of advice does not replace the need for a good risk assessment in remote destinations or high-risk environments and will not replace the need for access to local medical advice.
Renshaw advises that sending the school nurse with a party of schoolchildren will
not work when, for example, the nurse finds themselves having to negotiate the Chinese healthcare system.
If your travellers are going to high-risk areas, then you need to provide specific advice.
TRM programs can no longer rely on insurance companies providing medical advice for somebody going to Africa because there is now an expectation of a higher duty of care.
psychological assessments before they let people travel.
The three things to assess are: what is the person’s medical condition, what is the work they will be doing, and where they will be working. For most work, all three assessments can be automated. Use an online checklist to assess personal health risks.
“What we have found is that physical health assessments are less valuable than we had thought,” says Renshaw. “Unless you are going to work in a mine in Mongolia.”
In the latter case, it is better to get specialist medical advice as GPs may not know what they are looking for, says Hillier. Medical records are confidential and employers only get a risk assessment and advice on how the employee might be supported.
The gold standard is where you identify a risk for your employees and can demonstrate a behavioural change
as a result. Wellness programs, perhaps!
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