September 2014 Subscribe Here

PERSONNEL SECURITY
Safe Travel
and Events
You could be at risk of breaching your duty of care under health and safety legislation if you don’t know where your
staff are, and an accident should happen, says Mubin Chowdhury, Health & Safety Consultant at Wolters Kluwer, looks
at the obligations on employers.
It’s essential then that employers are aware of their health and safety obligations towards staff that work away from
their normal workplace, either for all or part of their work.
As long as your employees
are at work and you have
a contract of employment,
you’re responsible for their welfare
no matter where they are. This
includes ensuring their welfare on
business travel and at company
events.
Business travel
Under the UK Health and Safety
at Work Act (1974), if you have
a contract of employment with
staff, you are obliged to ensure
their welfare as far as “reasonably
practicable”.
Even though this Act only applies
in the UK, under common law,
you have a duty of care to your
employees anywhere in the world.
You have a duty to make certain
that staff are insured, that they
check in on a regular basis, and
have the correct vaccinations
when visiting tropical countries.
Wherever your employees
are travelling, you also need
to assess potential risks and
take appropriate measures to
minimise them. If the risks are well
known and the necessary control
measures are easy to apply, this
can be a simple procedure.
In a low-risk environment, it might
simply require a phone call from
staff to say they have arrived
safely. But it really depends on the
individual situation. Employees
working on their own can be more
vulnerable, for example.
The Foreign & Commonwealth
Office (FCO) can advise on
particular overseas threats. If
employees are travelling to areas
known to present risks to tourists
and business travellers, you may
need to take extra security steps -
this might even include consulting
a specialist security agency.
Mubin
Chowdhury,
Health
& Safety
Consultant
at Wolters
Kluwer
Work events
You are also responsible for
the safety of your staff at work
organised events or meetings
outside their usual workplace.
If you have organised an away
day, for example involving high
risk adventure activities such as
rock climbing, you will need to
ensure adequate safety briefings
and training is given to staff and
any company used to organise
the event are competent. Keep a
record of all measures taken.
If you have up-to-date health and
safety policies, procedures and
arrangements in place you will
reduce your exposure. You will
need to be able to demonstrate
due diligence if an employee is
injured and you end up in court.
For more information about your
health and safety obligations visit
the Health & Safety Executive
website.
For information on travelling
overseas, visit the FCO website.
14 - World Security Report www.worldsecurity-index.com