Ask for your policy on international travel and I guess you’ll get a 20 page downloadable booklet with a link to your occupational health provider, medical evacuation provider, risk analyst and security consultant. Your company possibly has kidnap and ransom insurance too, but it’s not allowed to say so. Posted to Iraq? No problem. Your 4.5 ton company car is waiting for you at the airport, local driver with Kalashnikov included. This industry is pretty sophisticated when it comes to sending its people to hostile territories abroad. We pride ourselves on going prepared.
My employment law partner, Stuart Robertson, puts it this way “you have to assess the risk and provide a safe system of work. It is not a get-out to say staff travel at their own risk when commuting to their principal place of work.” So far so good. But my concern is that as an industry we have been so focused on arms in Angola and nightmares in Nigeria that we are overlooking travel risks much closer to home. Luanda or Lumphanan there is risk assessment to be done.
Here in Aberdeen there is a growing trend towards significant road journeys to and from onshore facilities. Businesses have looked to contain costs by relocating at least part of their operations out of the city. It’s 120 miles from Aberdeen to Alness. 90 miles to Glenrothes. Road quality is (at best) mixed. The number of people combining such journeys with a full day’s work is increasing. It’s not uncommon for senior managers to be making several such road trips in the same week, and again for business development at the weekend! Our attitudes, policies and procedures are, I would argue, way behind what this new reality demands. One “nocturnal” captain of industry’s long distance drive to work starts at 5am. He may well be super-human but bosses need to lead by example.
Safety starts at home. Tiredness kills and/or effects performance. Getting waivers of the 48 hour week doesn’t absolve employers of their legal or moral (let alone commercial) responsibility. I don’t want to scare you with the prospect of being sued as a negligent employer. I’m interested in protecting your shareholder value. Making small improvements might not be as difficult as you might think. You already give a car allowance don’t you? It may have been suggested by your finance director to save national insurance contributions rather than your human resources director to save lives. Never mind. Now’s the time to extract value from it. Exert some influence. It doesn’t have to be a Humvee to offer better protection. There are over 80 accidents a year on the A96 alone. Some of them fatal. Train travel offers an alternative (with wifi). Think about it. Look after your shareholders by looking after your team.
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