Ask the expert... ISO 31030 Standard

James Wood, Regional Security Director, International SOS

In a nutshell, what is ISO 31030?

The ISO 31030 standard, introduced in September 2021, exists to help ease some of the complexities that businesses face when managing employees travelling abroad. It acts as a benchmark for organisations to strive towards and empowers non-SME practitioners to make risk-based decisions. It covers seven key areas: understanding your organisation’s risk context, managing travel risk effectively, incident response, specialist support, communication and consultation, and programme monitoring and review.

What are the benefits of adopting it?

Like all ISO standards, when the highest standards are set and adhered to, organisations will benefit from long-term stability, improved business continuity, reputation and productivity. Adopting the ISO 31030 standard will give your organisation and travelling employees peace of mind and will show that traveller health and safety is being taken seriously. It will help to identify both opportunities and threats and where to allocate adequate resource to manage risk. In addition, organisations could also benefit from reductions in insurance premiums.

Is it being widely implemented?

It's been more than a year since the standard was introduced, but it's still far from universally understood. Some major misunderstandings are still out there regarding the standard's application and certifiability. This means that some businesses are not utilising its full benefit, leaving their travelling employees potentially exposed.

What are the most common misunderstandings?

One major misunderstanding associated with the standard is that it is not certifiable, which has the potential to lead to misinterpretation from a legal coverage perspective by businesses. It is vital that companies understand that the standard resembles more of a benchmark, providing an expert led set of guidelines of risk management best practice.

It is also important that businesses don’t treat the standard as a surface level boxticking exercise. To really protect and put employees at the centre of a business, the ISO standard should be embedded into a wider travel risk management strategy that accounts for these issues.

The standard is not intended to represent a company’s entire risk management strategy. Rather, it should act as part of a solid foundation for a wider platform that prioritises employee safety. Regular training is also vital, for instance, as a recent

International SOS survey found that only 48% of organisations are giving their employees regular training on health and security risks when travelling.

How can the ISO standard assist with Duty of Care?

Duty of Care emphasises the importance of employees feeling adequately prepared and protected and the ISO standard can play a large part in this. Applying it appropriately demonstrates that an employer takes employee travel risk seriously, and this is essential if organisations want to stand out amongst their competitors for the right reasons.

Is the standard more relevant for larger corporations than for SMEs?

The standard is designed to be flexible and apply to any organisation that bears responsibility for keeping employees safe when travelling. Every business is unique so can utilise the ISO standard in a variety of ways. A large NGO with a substantial number of employees operating in a country experiencing civil unrest will have a significantly different risk appetite to a small technology company sending an occasional business traveller on a trip to Switzerland, for example.

Different organisations will take different aspects of the standard and apply it to their operations. It’s not one size fits all and this flexibility is hugely beneficial for businesses.

Is traveller health and safety higher on the agenda since the pandemic?

According to the International SOS Risk Outlook Report 2023, 86% of surveyed experts reported that they expect budgets to support the health and safety of travellers to increase or stay the same in 2023, highlighting how important business traveller support will be even in a predominantly post-pandemic world. It is vital that these funds are directed towards the most appropriate risk management strategies – a task the ISO 31030 standard can provide guidance for –ensuring the safety of employees is properly maintained.

How are the new ways of working impacting risk management?

Looking to the future, which may well feature new working patterns like the increasing ability to work remotely from anywhere, it is likely that businesses will rely ever more heavily on their risk management programmes. Acting proactively rather than reactively, with the help of a thorough travel risk management strategy underpinned by the ISO 31030 standard, will help organisations put their employees’ safety first and continue to thrive.

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GBTA predicts fastest growing market

WESTERN EUROPE is expected to be the fastest growing business travel market in the world this year, according to the GBTA’s most recent Index Outlook.

The report predicts the region will continue to experience one of the sharpest recoveries by 2026, with business travel spend rising 61.7% in 2022 and expected to grow another 25.3% in 2023. Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands accounted for 65.1% of business travel expenditure in Western Europe last year.

But Catherine Logan, GBTA Regional Vice President EMEA and APAC, warned: "Despite a healthy start to the year, there is caution as uncertainty continues due to rising inflation and economic crisis, all threatening to derail progress as we move further into 2023.”

Norse Unveils New Routes From Gatwick

NORSE ATLANTIC is to launch a further six transatlantic routes from London Gatwick this summer.

Alongside its existing daily New York route, the airline is adding services to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale

From May 25, Norse will fly four times a week to Orlando, with schedules increasing to daily in peak summer. The following day it will launch three flights a week to Fort Lauderdale.

Six flights a week to Washington DC will start from June 1 and from June 30 Norse will add daily flights to Los Angeles.

Three flights a week to San Francisco launch on July 1 and five flights a week to Boston take off from September 2.

Stewart Wingate, CEO Gatwick Airport, said: "Long-haul routes, particularly in North America, are a hugely important aspect of our strategy, especially as we look to return to pre-covid levels of passengers and destinations."

Eu Delays Launch Of Etias Scheme

THE EUROPEAN Union has again postponed the launch of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias).

It is now set to be introduced in 2024, although no exact date has been given.

96% Predicted 2023 global air capacity as a percentage of levels pre-Covid

The Etias scheme was first due to launch in 2022 and has now been delayed three times. The most recent launch date was November 2023.

No formal public announcement was made but the delay was confirmed on the Etias website.