When an employee is halfway around the world on a business trip, a missed flight or lost company card can quickly become more than an inconvenience. More serious events—such as illness, civil unrest, natural disasters, or a security incident—require an employer to respond quickly and effectively.
Most business trips run smoothly. But a single incident can expose gaps in a company’s travel policy, emergency response process, insurance coverage, or ability to contact and support its people.
A strong corporate travel safety program prepares employees for the unexpected. It sets clear expectations before travel, helps travelers make safer decisions during a trip, and gives travel managers the information and tools to respond when plans change.
This guide explains duty of care, travel risk management, and how to build a practical travel safety process that protects employees and supports productive business travel.
What is duty of care in business travel?
Duty of care is an employer’s legal and ethical responsibility to protect the health, safety, security, and well-being of employees while they are working—including when they travel for business.
In a travel context, duty of care means taking reasonable steps to identify foreseeable risks, reduce exposure to those risks, prepare employees for disruptions, and provide assistance if an incident occurs.
The exact legal requirements vary by country, employment arrangement, and circumstances. However, a robust duty of care program generally considers risks including:
Health and medical emergencies
Safety and security threats
Fire safety and accommodation security
Discrimination, harassment, bullying, or violence
Stress, fatigue, and traveler wellbeing
Food and water safety
Political instability, civil unrest, and terrorism
Severe weather and natural disasters
Travel disruptions, lost documents, and stranded travelers
Duty of care should be a core part of a company’s wider corporate travel policy. It should apply throughout the journey—not just when an employee is in the office or on company premises.
For the traveler, good duty of care means arriving in an unfamiliar city confident that their employer has a plan, knows how to help, and has provided the information they need to stay safe.
Why duty of care matters
Duty of care is not simply a compliance exercise. It protects employees, reduces operational disruption, and helps organizations make better travel decisions.
Employees can encounter problems that are outside a travel manager’s direct control, including:
Missed or cancelled flights
Lost passports, visas, phones, or other important documents
Illness or accidents requiring medical attention
Extreme weather, earthquakes, hurricanes, or other natural disasters
Political protests, strikes, or civil unrest
Theft, scams, or crime
Sudden changes to local travel restrictions or entry requirements
While employers cannot prevent every incident, they can prepare travelers with current information, emergency contacts, insurance support, safe booking options, and clear escalation procedures.
One cited survey found that 22% of business travelers had not been briefed on who to contact in an emergency. That gap can make a stressful incident harder to manage and delay the support an employee needs.
Duty of care supports employee experience and retention
A smooth, well-supported business trip allows employees to focus on their work rather than worry about logistics or safety. When travelers know they can access help, make approved bookings, and receive timely updates, they are more likely to feel valued by their employer.
Good traveler care can also reduce lost workdays, improve productivity, support staff retention, and lower the likelihood of costly incidents or disputes. It is especially important for travel managers, HR teams, and company administrators responsible for employee wellbeing.
Duty of care vs. travel risk management: what is the difference?
Duty of care and travel risk management are closely connected, but they are not the same thing.
Duty of care is the “why.” It is the organization’s responsibility and commitment to protect employees.
Travel risk management is the “how.” It is the process, policy, technology, and decision-making framework used to meet that responsibility.
A duty of care policy defines the organization’s commitment, the travelers it covers, the responsibilities of employees and managers, and the support available during a trip.
Travel risk management puts that policy into action through measures such as:
Pre-trip risk assessments
Destination intelligence and government travel advisories
Travel insurance and medical support
Emergency contact information
Traveler tracking and itinerary visibility
Security alerts and disruption notifications
Employee briefings and training
Incident response, evacuation, and contingency plans
A clear duty of care policy should guide your travel risk assessment process, helping you decide which risks require additional review and what controls should be in place before approving a trip.
Common business travel risks to consider
The risks employees face vary by destination, trip length, season, individual circumstances, and the nature of their work. A well-designed safety program considers both destination-wide risks and traveler-specific needs.
Political instability and civil unrest
Protests, strikes, political tensions, conflict, and terrorism threats can disrupt transport, limit access to essential services, and put travelers at risk.
Before approving travel, review reputable sources such as local news, embassy guidance, and government travel advisories. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the U.S. Department of State provide current safety and security guidance, including local risks and travel recommendations.
Travelers should know how to avoid protest areas, where to find reliable local information, how to contact emergency services, and what to do if a situation escalates.
Health, sanitation, and disease
Health risks can range from minor stomach illness to infectious disease outbreaks or a lack of accessible medical care. According to IMG’s 2024 Annual Travel Outlook Survey, 67% of respondents said travel medical insurance was “very important” when traveling internationally.
Before travel, employers and travelers should consider:
Access to medical care: Identify suitable hospitals, clinics, and emergency medical contacts near the traveler’s destination and accommodation.
Vaccinations and medication: Check whether travelers need destination-specific vaccinations, prescriptions, or preventative medication before departure.
Food and water safety: In destinations where sanitation standards differ from home, travelers should follow reliable local guidance on safe food and drinking water.
Traveler health needs: Consider allergies, chronic conditions, mobility requirements, mental health needs, and access to medication.
Wellbeing and fatigue: Long journeys, overnight flights, demanding schedules, and unfamiliar environments can affect employee wellbeing. Where possible, build realistic itineraries and choose accommodation that supports rest, healthy food options, or fitness facilities.
Accommodation security
A hotel booking is not just a cost or convenience decision. It is also a safety decision. Employees should be encouraged to book accommodation in safe, well-reviewed areas and to use basic security practices throughout their stay.
Key accommodation safety measures include:
Choose hotels with a staffed front desk, controlled access, visible security measures, and positive recent reviews.
Research the surrounding neighborhood before booking, using maps, street-level imagery, and guest feedback.
Avoid ground-floor rooms where possible. Rooms on middle floors can reduce the risk of opportunistic access while remaining accessible during an emergency.
Be discreet at check-in. Travelers should avoid saying their room number aloud and ask hotel staff to write it down if needed.
Use the in-room safe for passports, laptops, payment cards, and other valuables.
Lock the door and use the deadbolt whenever inside. A portable door lock or door stop may offer additional reassurance.
Locate the nearest emergency exits and understand the hotel’s evacuation route soon after arrival.
Transport and itinerary risks
The mode of transport, timing of travel, and route between the airport, hotel, and meeting location can all affect safety.
Consider whether there are local transport disruptions, poor road conditions, unreliable providers, unsafe arrival times, or restrictions that could change the risk level of a trip. A traveler arriving late at night in an unfamiliar destination may need a pre-arranged, vetted transfer rather than relying on ad hoc local transport.
Travel schedules should also account for fatigue. For example, booking a long self-drive journey immediately after an overnight flight can create avoidable risk.
Natural disasters and extreme weather
Earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, heatwaves, and other severe weather events can affect travel routes, accommodation, local infrastructure, and emergency services.
Review seasonal conditions and current weather advisories before travel. Employees should know what alerts to monitor, how to contact their employer, and when to follow local authority instructions or evacuation guidance.
Crime, theft, and personal security
Petty crime, scams, pickpocketing, and theft are common travel concerns. In higher-risk areas, employers may recommend practical precautions such as using a money belt, avoiding displaying valuables, choosing secure transportation, and booking accommodation with in-room safes.
Travelers should also have access to local law-enforcement information, emergency contacts, and a process for reporting lost passports, payment cards, devices, or company property.
Third-party contractors and suppliers
Duty of care can extend beyond direct employees to contractors and others for whom the organization has a responsibility. Third-party suppliers—such as transport providers, local guides, accommodation partners, or security providers—can introduce additional risks.
Use approved, trusted vendors where possible, and conduct appropriate due diligence for suppliers operating in higher-risk destinations. Review whether third parties have adequate safety standards, insurance, emergency procedures, and local expertise.
Traveler-specific risks and inclusive safety planning
Risk assessments should consider each traveler as an individual, not just the destination.
For example, solo female travelers, LGBTQ+ travelers, travelers with disabilities, and employees with specific health or mental health needs may face additional risks or require different support. A 2023 World Travel Protection survey found that 71% of female business travelers felt business travel was less safe for women than for men. The same research found that only 18% of travel policies specifically addressed female traveler safety.
Organizations can support travelers by allowing them to disclose relevant needs confidentially, offering appropriate booking choices, avoiding unnecessarily late arrivals, providing secure transfers, and ensuring employees can raise concerns without fear of judgment.
What is a travel risk assessment?
A travel risk assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating, and managing threats an employee may face during a business trip. It is a key part of travel risk management and helps employers meet their duty of care responsibilities.
The assessment should identify risks before travel begins, determine their likely impact, and establish practical measures to reduce or respond to them. It should also ensure that travelers understand the risks and know what to do if an incident occurs.
A travel risk assessment may cover anything from a flight disruption or lost passport to a public-health crisis, civil unrest, or medical evacuation.
Using a risk assessment matrix
A risk assessment matrix helps travel managers prioritize risks according to two factors:
Likelihood: How likely is the event to happen?
Impact: How serious would the consequences be if it happened?
A high-impact event may require action even if it is unlikely. For instance, a violent political uprising may not be the most probable scenario, but its potential severity may make it an unacceptable risk if the organization cannot mitigate it effectively.
By contrast, a mild stomach illness may be relatively likely in some locations but have a lower impact and manageable controls, such as pre-trip health guidance, safe food and water practices, travel insurance, and access to medical advice.
The purpose is not to eliminate every possible risk. It is to understand which risks are tolerable, which require mitigation, and which mean a trip should be delayed, changed, or avoided.
When should you conduct a travel risk assessment?
Risk assessments should be completed before travel begins. For complex or high-risk international trips, beginning the process around five weeks before departure can provide enough time to review destination conditions, traveler needs, medical considerations, and contingency plans.
The depth of assessment should match the trip’s risk profile.
Repeat destinations
A full assessment may not be needed every time an employee visits the same destination, provided there are no meaningful changes to:
The traveler’s activities or responsibilities
Accommodation or transport arrangements
Destination safety conditions
Political, health, or environmental risks
The traveler’s personal circumstances
Even for familiar destinations, travel managers should review current advisories and local conditions before departure.
Domestic travel
Domestic travel is often lower risk, particularly for short trips between established business hubs. However, it can still require a destination briefing or proportionate assessment, especially when travel involves remote locations, long journeys, unfamiliar areas, severe weather, or higher-risk activities.
Duty of care does not begin only when an employee crosses a border.
Last-minute travel
Last-minute travelers can still benefit from a short, focused assessment—particularly when they have not visited the destination before. Prioritize major risks, including security conditions, medical access, transport, accommodation, emergency contacts, and insurance coverage.
If there is insufficient time for a full assessment, additional travel insurance and a clear emergency support process may be particularly important.
What should a travel risk assessment include?
A thorough assessment should consider both the individual traveler and the environment they will encounter.
Individual traveler considerations
Traveler-specific factors may include:
Health and medical needs: Is the employee fit to travel? Are there allergies, medical conditions, prescriptions, or accessibility requirements to consider?
Mental health and wellbeing: Does the itinerary create unnecessary stress, fatigue, or anxiety? For example, a traveler with anxiety related to flying may benefit from a train or car journey where practical.
Travel patterns: Are flights, ground transport, meetings, and rest periods realistic and safe?
Increased personal risk factors: Could the traveler’s gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, religion, or solo-travel status affect their risk in the destination?
Emergency contacts: Are personal and business emergency contacts current and accessible if needed?
Confidential pre-trip questionnaires can give employees a safe way to disclose relevant needs and help travel managers make appropriate arrangements.
Environmental and destination considerations
Destination risks may include:
Transport: Road quality, local driving conditions, rail or aviation disruptions, transport strikes, and reliable ground transportation options.
Health threats: Infectious diseases, local healthcare capacity, vaccination requirements, medication availability, and public-health restrictions.
Natural disasters: Seasonal weather, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, fires, or other events that may disrupt travel.
Crime: Crime rates, common scams, theft risks, and contact details for local law enforcement.
Political conditions: Protests, demonstrations, strikes, conflict, terrorism threats, or rapidly changing regulations.
Accommodation: Hotel location, building security, emergency exits, and access to support services.
Local culture and laws: Cultural norms, legal restrictions, and behavior that may create risk for an unfamiliar traveler.
How to build an effective travel risk management process
A practical travel safety program should move from prevention to response and continuous improvement.
1. Assess your existing travel program
Start by reviewing your current travel policy, booking process, incident history, supplier relationships, insurance arrangements, and traveler feedback.
Involve relevant stakeholders, including frequent travelers, travel managers, HR, security teams, finance, legal advisers, and senior leadership. Employees who travel regularly can provide valuable insight into where existing processes fall short.
Review past incidents and near misses. Identify what went wrong, what worked well, and whether a different booking choice, briefing, or response plan could have improved the outcome.
A travel management company can also help organizations access travel data, security information, traveler support, and tools that make it easier to manage travel at scale.
2. Establish a pre-travel process
Create a consistent process for reviewing trips before departure. Depending on the risk level, this may include:
Destination risk reports and government advisory checks
Traveler questionnaires for relevant health, accessibility, or safety needs
Confirmation of travel insurance and medical coverage
Up-to-date employee and emergency contact information
Pre-trip security, health, and cultural briefings
Automated travel alerts included in the itinerary
Approval workflows for high-risk or out-of-policy trips
Confirmation of emergency procedures and local support options
Employees should understand that safety-related requirements are part of the travel process, not an optional administrative step.
3. Identify and evaluate risks
Gather information from credible sources, including government advisories, recent news, weather services, embassy information, local contacts, and supplier intelligence.
Then use a risk matrix to evaluate likelihood and impact. Decide whether to:
Accept the risk with standard precautions
Introduce mitigation measures
Change the itinerary, supplier, transport, or accommodation
Escalate for additional approval
Postpone or cancel the trip
A well-designed business travel policy can make safer choices easier by limiting access to booking options that do not meet company standards.
4. Communicate and train travelers
Risk information only protects employees when they understand and use it.
Travel training should cover prevention and response. Travelers should know how to identify unsafe situations, avoid common risks, seek medical help, report an incident, contact emergency support, and follow evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions.
Brief employees on relevant local laws, cultural expectations, political conditions, and health risks. Even simple advice—such as staying alert to pickpocketing, using approved transport, or avoiding a protest area—can prevent an incident.
5. Track itineraries and provide real-time support
Knowing where employees are and what travel they have booked is essential during a disruption or emergency. Real-time itinerary visibility enables travel managers to identify affected travelers quickly and communicate with them directly.
With a corporate travel tracker, travel managers can view flights, hotel bookings, and car rentals in one place, organize travelers by team or location, and monitor who may be affected by a disruption.
Mobile alerts can also help travelers receive timely updates about flight cancellations, local risks, travel restrictions, and itinerary changes.
6. Maintain contingency plans
Every duty of care policy should include backup plans. Employees should know what to do if they become ill, lose essential documents, encounter civil unrest, miss a flight, or need urgent help.
For international travel, plans should include information on the nearest embassy or consulate, medical facilities, evacuation arrangements where relevant, and emergency contact channels.
A reliable response plan should answer key questions:
Who is responsible for responding to an incident?
How can the traveler contact support 24/7?
How will the company locate and communicate with affected travelers?
What medical, security, or evacuation support is available?
Who has authority to approve emergency bookings or itinerary changes?
How will the organization document and review the incident afterward?
7. Review and update regularly
Travel risks change constantly. Review your policy, destination guidance, supplier standards, and risk assessments regularly—especially after an incident, a major world event, or a change to your company’s travel patterns.
Ask whether incidents could have been prevented, whether travelers had enough information, and whether the response process was fast and effective. Use those findings to strengthen the program over time.
Improve corporate travel safety with the right tools
Corporate travel safety is about more than avoiding liability after an incident. It helps employees travel with confidence, reduces disruptions, and allows organizations to get more value from every trip.
Perk helps companies support travelers from booking through to return. With duty of care tools, companies can access traveler visibility, relevant travel updates, and support designed to help teams respond to changing circumstances.
For urgent issues, 24/7 travel assistance gives travelers a way to get help when they need it—whether they are dealing with an emergency, a disruption, or a last-minute itinerary change.
A clear policy, proportionate risk assessments, informed travelers, and accessible support can turn business travel safety from a reactive obligation into a reliable part of your employee experience.
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