Crisis avoidance company, The Anvil Group, has issued a stark warning to organisations that do not have a comprehensive travel policy in place, as new legislation in the UK could see unlimited fines and possible jail sentences for companies and individuals found lacking in duty of care (DoC) requirements.
Speaking exclusively to ABTN, The Anvil Group director Matthew Judge, explained the difference in the new Corporate Manslaughter Bill: ”While there is an existing law in place, it was seen as inadequate, as in order to prosecute the Crown has to identify an individual or controlling mind [department] that”s responsible.
”As modern, global businesses have a more segmented structure that can involve different management in different countries, the new law removes the need to prove a single individual or department responsible and is designed for the most serious cases that result in an employee”s death.”
Although the law is ”still very ambiguous” and is in what Judge refers to as ”a state of ping-pong” between the House of Lords and the House of Commons ” Anvil warns that whatever the final outcome of the law, companies need to pay greater attention to their DoC requirements.
What is important, Judge stressed, is that corporations know about the current and future travel plans of all their employees in order to track them whilst away or prevent them travelling if a country is unsafe. Companies need to be able to locate each individual at any given time and be able to communicate with them if a crisis arises.
”It all starts with a company travel policy,” he explained. ”Very few recognise that it”s not just about frequent flier programmes, preferred hotel chains and cutting costs, it”s about putting policies and procedures in place to protect both the organisation and the individual employee.”
Anvil provides an Employee Travel Monitoring System (ETMS) service for both corporations and travel management companies (TMCs) to track each employee whilst away, as well as a web-based Travel Risk Intelligence System (TRIS) that alerts those involved in arranging and monitoring business travel to natural, political and security risks worldwide.