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TRAVEL RISK MANAGEMENT 2015
DRÄGERWERK
MATHIEAS KOHL, Director of Insurance at Drägerwerk Activity sector: Medical and safety technology provider Public company
Head office: Germany
Business Locations: Europe, Americas, South Africa, South East Asia, Middle East and Indonesia
Number of travellers/expatriates: 1 500/300
Number of countries where the organisation is set up/ has an activity: 190
Q1 How important is the management of health, safety and security risks for international/cross-border travellers for your organisation? How has the topic developed in importance over the last five years? How do you think it will change over the next five years?
Q2 Does your organisation have a specific health, safety and security policy covering international/cross-border business travel? If so, what does this include?
Yes, this is mainly covered by travel policies arranged by the corporate group. It includes:
• Preventive medical checkups provided by the occupational health team before
travel into certain regions;
• Accident and health insurance for business travellers;
• Personal consultation/pre-trip advisory in risk regions/critical regions;
• Monitoring the number of employees on one flight.
Q3 How does your organisation bring together the functions of the different internal stakeholders in managing travel security and what is your role? To what extent is senior management involved and how (active participation, reporting)?
I am part of the travel security team. It gathers on a quarterly basis and also includes procurement, the internal travel department and our worldwide preferred/major external travel agency. Our role is to organise and moderate these regular meetings. We discuss the incidents of the last three months, changes in technical requirements and upcoming projects, such as major events, fairs, management meetings, etc.
During the crisis team workshop which takes place once a year, we report about all relevant incidents and changes in the field of travel security management. Projects and queries are discussed, and we consider policy adaptations, open topics and weaknesses of our procedures, as well as final decisions that have been taken. In case of a crisis, the board as well as the senior management will be immediately informed and kept updated about all activities so that decisions can be taken quickly.
Q4 In practical terms, how do you handle Travel Risk Management in your daily activities? What is (are) your biggest challenge(s) and what solutions are you looking for?
Our travel security team consists of three people based in our global headquarters at Lübeck. They form the core team and are supported by four additional representatives based in the regions outside Europe.
Decisions about trips are taken within the regions. The core team in Lübeck steers travel security management for Europe and supports the representatives in the regions with data and reports extracted from our travel tracking. The travel security team is responsible for checking global compliance with legal requirements and travel security.
fffThe essential part is the internal coordination and integration into integral parts of the organisation, such as OH services, workers’ council, compliance, regional responsible persons and their demands and wishes, data protection, communication, [...]
Throughout recent years, the topic has gained more and more importance, partly triggered by legal requirements.
In addition to the growing relevance of legal requirements, our company is expanding worldwide into regions
with a higher risk rating for travellers. During the last five years, insecurity has increased due to religious wars, terror, pandemics, natural disasters and regional conflicts.