The poignant recent death of a student in Russia highlights once again the broad need to revisit travel security. Renewed travel is now firmly on the horizon. And with it, whether it be for pleasure or business, comes the inevitable but necessary planning. Business executives, in particular, need to consider what appropriate corporate travel security services should be utilized for their own safety as well as the safety of their employees.
Remember Two Goals for Evaluating Risk & Safe Travel
Along with this comes additional decisions such as choice of destination, travel involved, where to stay, what to do, and lots more. As before, travelers’ safety, security, and overall well-being are important factors that need some forethought.
From a security perspective, the objective (as always) is to stay out of harm’s way. There are several actions, both before and during the trip, that are needed to achieve this goal.
One is the need to understand what the risk is at the destination. From an individual’s perspective, could this risk be enhanced somehow because of the planned actions and activities?
At the basic level, is the risk such that the trip shouldn’t take place? Alternatively, if it does, what specific actions are necessary to alleviate the risk?
In most cases, a few common-sense measures will reduce the risk to manageable proportions, e.g., a careful selection of accommodations and understanding local crime and its prevalence.
But whatever “logistical” steps are taken, much will depend on basic steps that the traveler can and should take himself or herself.
As a result, there are two goals that many security professionals adhere to. These goals partially stem from military doctrine. One is the need to “put off the day when something bad happens” and the other is to avoid what’s known as “action at the scene.” The latter is the least preferable scenario since it is usually sudden and unexpected.
The fundamental goal is to “put as much distance between a likely threat and its target as possible.” Many of the steps needed to accomplish safe travel are basic and achievable but require some prior knowledge and practice. Priorities include:
- Improving the understanding of the overall risk.
- Raising awareness of the surroundings (something that may be pretty difficult to do but will become second nature with practice).
- “Visualizing” the possibility of a dangerous situation and “preparing” an appropriate reaction.
- Ensuring that there’s an appropriate means to let others know of your own safety or that there is an issue if others don’t know that there’s a problem. You’ll also need a method to let others know where you are and to know quickly if help may be delayed. IMG’s FoneTrac travel safety app (position-locating and communication system) can help in these respects.
IMG GlobalSecur Corporate Travel Security Services
IMG GlobalSecur has decades of experience in the security industry. Our team of safety experts stand ready to help you alleviate business travel fears with our corporate travel security services including executive travel security expertise and more. In addition, our FoneTrac safety app backed with 24/7 on-call security professionals can assist you in staying safe while away from home or office. FoneTrac is an incredible on-the-go iPhone / Android app that gives your business tools such as employee locating, panic alert, employee check-in and more. Contact us today!