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How to Create Effective Travel Risk Assessments for Work Trips

As the global landscape evolves, organizations must prioritize the well-being of their travelers through strategic planning and continuous improvement. Travel risk assessments are part of the foundation of that effort.

Every great organization that sends personnel out into the world has an eye on safety and security. If the saying is “An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure,” then the real-life approach is to give your people all the information and tools they need — ahead of time — to have a safe trip. One of the best ways to do that is with a travel risk assessment.

A travel risk assessment, also called a pre-travel risk assessment, is typically a comprehensive document that includes relevant information and risk analysis for a person’s upcoming journey or travel destination. As part of their duty of care responsibilities , organizations should create effective travel risk assessments for their teams and people.

Creating a risk assessment is an excellent business practice. It allows travelers to focus on their work while armed with the knowledge of how to address a crisis. In a world where nearly half of business travelers say that health and safety are the biggest threats to their trips (according to a 2023 SAP Concur survey ), giving them the resources to plan for risks can go a long way towards assuaging those concerns.

Serious trip planning requires more than a cursory web search before booking your ticket and jetting off, however. Good risk assessments are robust, iterative, and unique to each trip’s risks and concerns.

WHAT IS TRAVEL RISK? 

First, it’s important to understand what it means to assess travel risk.

Travel risk refers to the potential threats and hazards that people face while on the road, especially in the context of work trips. It encompasses a wide range of factors that can impact their safety, security, and well-being.

There are obvious and extreme travel hazards that most people can name: the threats of terrorism, gun violence, or natural disasters, for example. But there are other types of travel hazards, both mundane and out-of-the-ordinary – everything from road closures and public transportation reroutes to civil unrest and rare endemic diseases.

Travel risk is also about probability or likelihood. Not every threat is the same in every location, and not every threat impacts each traveler in the same way.

Travel risk for different travelers and locations

A travel risk assessment is most effective when it is targeted to the location the person is traveling to, and details how likely it is that a threat will hinder or derail a trip.

The threats in Mexico are not the same as those in Saudi Arabia, and not all threats are equally likely to impact each person. For example, women travelers and LGBTQ+ travelers face different threats and different threat levels, and may need to approach these situations differently than their coworkers . Background and job history can also play a role when traveling to places like China .

In short, a travel risk assessment must be tailored to the individuals taking the trip and consider many factors that include the travelers themselves.

What are the components of a travel risk assessment?

A thorough travel risk assessment considers health, security, safety, and transportation factors to identify and mitigate potential risks.

The following is a typical list of the components of a travel risk assessment, though your organization may choose to include additional components or focus more on certain factors.

1. Health and medical considerations

Health and medical considerations can include:   

• Vaccinations and health precautions : Assessing the need for vaccinations based on the destination. Providing information on necessary health precautions to prevent illnesses during the trip.
• Access to medical facilities: Evaluating the availability and accessibility of medical facilities at the destination. Ensuring travelers have information on nearby hospitals, clinics, and emergency services.

2. Security and safety

Your team’s safety is paramount, but exactly what issues will you have to keep them informed of when they travel to a new location?

• Crime rates and safety concerns : Analyze local crime rates to gauge potential threats to travelers. Identify safety concerns in the area and recommend appropriate precautions.
• Local laws and regulations: Understand relevant local laws and regulations. Ensure travelers are informed about cultural norms and legal requirements.
• Natural disasters : Identify the likelihood of natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods. Provide information on evacuation plans and relevant emergency shelters.
• Terrorism threats : Evaluate the risk of terrorism in the destination. Note how to monitor travel advisories and security alerts related to potential terrorist activities.
• Cybersecurity concerns : Consider the cybersecurity landscape, especially if the trip involves the use of electronic devices and sensitive information. Provide guidelines for secure online practices to mitigate cybersecurity risks.
• Civil unrest and political instability : Assess the political situation in the destination. Monitor for potential civil unrest or political instability and provide guidance accordingly.

3. Transportation

Moving within a city or region can lead to complications, especially if unrest or poor infrastructure may lead to unexpected detours.

• Evaluation of transportation options : Assessing the reliability, safety, and suitability of available transportation modes. Considering factors such as public transportation, rental cars, or private transportation rather than Uber or Lyft .
• Road safety and transportation infrastructure : Evaluate the overall transportation infrastructure for its efficiency and potential risks.

4. Risk mitigation strategies

All the intelligence in the world won’t mean much if you don’t have a plan to address a hazard as it comes up. Risk mitigation strategies include:

• Emergency response plan : This plan should detail specific actions to be taken in various emergency scenarios, such as natural disasters, political unrest, or health crises. The plan will define roles and responsibilities for team members, communication channels, decision-making processes. For example, travelers should know exactly who to contact in case of an emergency that happens — whether outside of work hours or not — and know that their response provider will have the ability to support them in real-time.
• Evacuation procedures : Outline step-by-step evacuation procedures in case of serious threats or disasters, identifying primary and alternative evacuation routes. Designate assembly points and ensure all travelers are familiar with the evacuation plan.
• Emergency contacts : Compile a comprehensive list of emergency contacts, including local authorities, medical facilities, and organizational contacts. Ensure that all travelers have easy access to this list, both in physical and digital formats.

Feels like we should directly say, who are your travelers going to call when something happens, especially when it is outside of work hours. And does that response provider have the resources/ability to support your travelers in real-time

5. Documentation of tools and resources Used

Within your assessment, list the tools, resources, and technologies that contributed to the creation of the document. This includes government travel advisories and databases, health databases, communication platforms, local contacts and sources, and more.

Including this section gives transparency into the assessment creation process, making it easier for your team to reproduce the assessment for other locations (as well as update the current one), and facilitates continuous improvement.

How to prepare a travel risk assessment

For most organizations, the most effective way to prepare a travel risk assessment — for each traveler, for every trip — is to partner with a duty of care provider as part of a larger travel risk management strategy. A good duty of care provider has the time and resources to create these assessments; a great provider also has the capacity to actually respond to personnel in a time of need, no matter when crisis strikes. 

There are many steps providers take to effectively compile the above components into a robust assessment. Any good travel risk assessment includes, at a minimum, the following efforts:

Preliminary Research and Information Gathering

Providers begin by conducting thorough research on the destination and gathering relevant information. This includes political, economic, and cultural factors, as well as health and safety considerations. They utilize government travel advisories, local sources, and reputable databases to assess potential risks.

Within each assessment is a detailed profile of the destination, highlighting known threats and vulnerabilities. They will include information on transportation options, road safety, and infrastructure. During this time, the team stays updated on current events and emerging risks leading up to finalizing the assessment.

Structured Documentation and Collaboration

Travel risk management providers can then provide a structured document that organizes the gathered information into sections, such as those described above. They will regularly update the assessment based on evolving information and feedback from teams on the ground as well as travelers, creating a dynamic and responsive approach to travel risk management.

As the trip plays out, providers will have a system for continuous monitoring of factors that may impact travel safety, utilizing technology, local contacts, and government advisories to stay informed about changing conditions. They can also establish channels for travelers to provide real-time feedback on their experiences and any issues encountered. 

Response Capabilities

One of the most important elements included in travel risk assessments is information on who to contact in case of an emergency, 24 hours a day, wherever an employee is traveling. Considering the myriad of risks that plague travel in today's increasingly complex landscape, hoping that your people simply know who to call in any given situation is no longer a viable strategy.

Some duty of care providers can be that point of contact, and provide travelers with the support and resources they need to overcome any obstacle, from inclement weather to civil unrest to acts of terrorism. This is where the creation of a travel risk assessment meets, in effect, its execution.

Global Guardian is an example of such a provider: With our Duty of Care membership , your personnel will have direct access to Global Guardian’s 24/7 operations center, real-time intelligence reports, and support in the event of an emergency situation on the road (and at home).

A well-executed travel risk assessment is vital for ensuring the safety of individuals during work trips. By systematically evaluating health, security, safety, and transportation factors, organizations can identify and address potential risks. As the global landscape evolves, organizations must prioritize the well-being of their travelers through strategic planning and continuous improvement of risk management protocols, and travel risk assessments are part of the foundation of that effort.

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The Global G uardian team is standing by to support your travel security and safety requirements with a comprehensive suite of travel risk management solutions. To learn more about our duty of care services, complete the form below or call us at + 1 (703) 566-9463.

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Free Risk Assessment Form Templates and Samples

By Andy Marker | July 29, 2020

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In this article, you’ll find the most useful collection of expert-tested, professionally designed risk assessment templates in Word, PDF, and Excel formats.

Included on this page, find risk assessment form templates for general risk assessments , workplace risk assessments , project risk assessments , event risk assessments , and more, and learn how to conduct a risk assessment .

General Risk Assessment Form Templates

Sample risk assessment form.

Use this sample risk assessment form to identify risks by type (e.g., financial, legal, or reputational). The customizable form includes space to provide a risk description, source, existing control measures, and risk level, as well as a section to detail a risk mitigation action plan, if you need to take further action.

Download Sample Risk Assessment Form

Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Basic Risk Assessment Template

Use this risk assessment template to track and log risks and hazards, resources impacted, existing control measures, and the probability and impact of each risk. There is also space to add prevention measures and ownership, as well as the status of control measures to ensure you’re implementing controls in a timely manner.

Download Basic Risk Assessment Template

Excel | Smartsheet

Risk Assessment and Control Template

This risk assessment and control template provides a high-level view of potential risks and hazards. Add a description of control measures, the frequency of controls, and the party responsible for ensuring that all up-to-date controls are in place.

Download Risk Assessment and Control Template

Excel | Word | PDF | Smartsheet

Hazard Identification and Assessment Plan

This two-part template contains a tab with an action plan to identify hazards, with room to assign roles and responsibilities, key dates, and pertinent information. Use the second tab to assess and classify the identified hazards, describe the person(s) impacted, note instituted control measures, establish a plan for further controls needed, and assess the status of implementing those controls.

Download Hazard Identification and Assessment Plan Template

Workplace Risk Assessment Form Templates

Job risk assessment template.

Use this risk assessment template to classify jobs by department, project, or another relevant category. Track hazards associated with each job, the resources impacted, existing control measures, and the probability and likelihood of each risk, according to existing security measures. If you require further action, use the allotted space to create an action plan by adding additional prevention measures, actions to take, ownership, and the status of preventative actions.

Download Job Risk Assessment Template

Excel | PDF | Smartsheet

Work-Related Stress Risk Assessment Form Sample

This customizable, work-related stress risk assessment form serves as a framework for those in management or leadership positions to identify, consider, and assess sources of stress among their team. Use this form as a checklist to identify potential stressors pertaining to job demands, team support, change management, and more. There is also room to identify potential risks, solutions, and pertinent information to help mitigate risks associated with work-related stress.

Download Work-Related Stress Risk Assessment Template

Workplace Hazard Risk Assessment Template

Use this template to identify and assess risks related to a specific job or workplace activity. List identified risks, affected parties, existing measures, and risk ratings according to likelihood and severity. There is also space to create an implementation plan with assigned roles and status for each applicable hazard.

Download Workplace Hazard Risk Assessment Template — Excel

Working at Heights Risk Assessment Form

Use this customizable risk assessment form to uncover risks and hazards associated with the nature of work performed at dangerous heights. The template includes a checklist, so the assessor can mark observations and take notes pertaining to the safety of the work area and equipment. There is also room to detail existing control measures, responsible parties, and any recommendations the assessor has to further mitigate risks and hazards.

Download Working at Heights Risk Assessment Form Template

Operational Risk Management Template

This operational risk management template is ideal for creating a list of risks, the rate and cost of annual incidents, probability of risk occurrence, and associated mitigation and control costs. Once you enter those values, built-in formulas will automatically calculate the annual cost, weighted annual cost, and cost/benefit value. This information is useful for developing cost-effective risk mitigation and control strategies.

Download Operational Risk Management Template

Excel | PDF

Construction Risk Assessment Form Templates

Construction risk assessment template.

This construction risk assessment template comes with a built-in matrix for identifying and categorizing common construction project risks. Determine the severity and likelihood of each risk, and then assign the respective party to develop control measures to address and mitigate them.

Download Construction Risk Assessment Template

Excel | Word | PDF

Construction Project Risk Assessment Template

Use this customizable template to categorize risks associated with each phase of a construction project. Detail the risk and impact description, and then assign a probability and level value based on the provided key. The built-in formula will automatically calculate the risk score, which enables you to assess the situation and take appropriate action.

Download Construction Project Risk Assessment Template

Excavation Risk Assessment Form Template

Use this risk assessment template to describe hazardous risks associated with excavation during a construction project. Identify persons impacted by potential risks, determine risk levels, and develop an action plan to minimize the probability and effects of identified risks. There is also space to assign plan ownership, add due dates, and note status in order to keep the plan on track.

Download Excavation Risk Assessment Template

Excel | Word |  PDF

Welding Risk Assessment Template

Use this welding risk assessment to identify and assess the implications of hazards for a specific welding project. Detail the necessary steps to mitigate risks and hazards, assign task ownership, set key dates, and track progress of your mitigation control action plan. 

Download Welding Risk Assessment Template — Excel

Project Risk Assessment Form Templates

Project management risk assessment template.

Use this risk assessment template to evaluate and manage risks associated with a project. List hazardous project activities, describe the associated risks, and then add severity, likelihood, and risk levels with existing controls measures. Next, re-evaluate risks post-mitigation to determine if it is safe to proceed with project activities.

Download Project Management Risk Assessment Template

Business Project Risk Assessment Sample Template

Use this risk assessment sample template to identify and organize potential risks for each phase of a business project. Detail how each risk impacts time, costs, and resources with existing mitigation measures in place. Then, enter the risk probability and impact level values, and the template will automatically calculate the risk score. This template includes an action plan to assign additional tasks and ownership to help minimize risks with a higher score.

Download Business Project Risk Assessment Sample Template

Travel Risk Assessment Form Templates

Travel risk assessment form template.

Use this travel risk assessment form template to evaluate risks associated with travelers, planned destinations, and anticipated excursions during a trip. This template provides space to list the names and contact information for each traveler, along with the latest guidelines and recommendations for areas to visit that may have political, economic, sanitary, or other implications. You’ll also find a customizable risk management action plan and assessment questionnaire.

Download Travel Risk Assessment Form Template

Word | PDF  

Pre-Travel Risk Assessment Form

This customizable pre-travel risk assessment form is perfect for travelers to complete and submit to their designated healthcare provider prior to taking a trip. Use this template to document details regarding the dates, purpose, and anticipated areas of travel during a trip, along with medical conditions, medications, allergies, and other medical information a doctor can assess prior to authorizing patient travel.

Download Pre-Travel Risk Assessment Form

Fire Risk Assessment Form Templates

Fire risk assessment form template.

Use this customizable risk assessment form to examine potential fire hazards, or other issues that could cause safety concerns during a fire. This form serves as a checklist to evaluate all fire detection and alarm systems on the premises, current fire escape procedures, fire fighting equipment, and more, to account for potential dangers, risks, and safety concerns. 

Download Fire Risk Assessment Form Template

Office Fire Risk Assessment Form Template

Use this office fire risk assessment form template is to identify potential hazards, persons at risk, and control measures in the event of a fire. Use this checklist to ensure you’ve safely secured combustible items, established fire escape routes, and properly trained all staff on fire safety procedures. There is also space to detail an action plan with activity ownership and deadlines to put additional control measures in place.

Download Office Fire Risk Assessment Form Template

Church Fire Risk Assessment Form Template

Use this fire risk assessment form to evaluate the potential risks and mitigation control measures associated with a church fire. Provide details regarding the layout of your church, occupancy rates during various services, designated locations of vulnerable occupants at risk, and background information related to previous fire incidents. This template also comes with a customizable checklist to ensure that you’re testing detection and alarm systems, escape procedures, and fire fighting equipment regularly, and that everything is working properly.

Download Church Fire Risk Assessment Form Template

Hazardous Substance Risk Assessment Form Templates

Hazardous substances risk assessment form.

Use this risk assessment form to identify potential hazards related to the use of a specific substance and to list existing control measures (e.g., air quality monitoring, ventilation, PPE) to help mitigate associated risks. There is also space to include a recommended action plan to improve health and safety measures for personnel working with the hazardous substance.

Download Hazardous Substances Risk Assessment Template

Hazardous Substance Identification, Assessment, and Control Plan Template

Use this customizable template to identify and classify hazardous substances by type (e.g., powder, liquid, gas), with room to detail the quantity and purpose of use. This template also contains a checklist to convey the hazards associated with each substance, methods of containment and disposal, prevention and control measures, level of risk, and more. 

Download Hazardous Substance Identification, Assessment, and Control Plan Assessment Template

Event Risk Assessment Form Templates

Event risk assessment template.

Use this customizable template to identify and classify potential risks for an event. You can categorize event risks by type (e.g., activity, environment, technical) to determine the probability and severity of a specific occurrence. Detail existing control measures to mitigate each risk and decide if you need to take further action.

Download Event Risk Assessment Template

Fundraising Event Risk Assessment Form

This simple fundraising event risk assessment form provides space to list event activities, accompanying risks, and persons impacted by risks. Assign a risk level to each potential hazard, and then detail control measures, ownership, and completion dates to ensure a risk mitigation plan is in place prior to event launch.

Download Fundraising Event Risk Assessment Form Template

Event Management Risk Assessment

This risk assessment template can help you evaluate and manage potential risks for all aspects of an event, including general risks, traffic management, emergency stations, food services, hazardous chemicals, and more. Assess the probability and potential severity of an incident to determine its risk level, and then establish control measures prior to the event.

Download Event Management Risk Assessment Template

Vendor Risk Assessment Form Templates

Vendor risk assessment template.

Use this customizable template as a third-party risk assessment to pinpoint and evaluate security vulnerabilities related to a vendor. Use the provided rating key to assign a color-coded risk level to specific criteria and include other pertinent information. Use this template to determine if you require further action to mitigate vendor risk.

Download Vendor Risk Assessment Template

Excel | PDF  | Smartsheet

Vendor Risk Assessment Questionnaire Sample Form

Use this questionnaire as a starting point for evaluating security risks associated with vendors. Detail the type of data a vendor can access, and use the included checklist to select policies and measures related to physical and data center security, malware security, network infrastructure security, and more. At the bottom of the template, there is also space for the risk assessor to sign and date the form.

Download Vendor Risk Assessment Questionnaire Sample Form

For additional resources, visit “ Free Vendor Risk Assessment Templates .”

Health and Safety Risk Assessment Form Templates

Health and safety risk assessment template.

Use this risk assessment template to assess and classify hazards related to biological, chemical, environmental, machinery, and other potential risks that impact health and safety. Select the impact, probability, and risk level for each hazard, and then establish control measures to reduce risk severity and likelihood. You can also document the activity details and purpose, and have the assessor and approving official add signatures.

Download Health and Safety Risk Assessment Template

Oxygen Risk Assessment Form

Use this risk assessment form to evaluate a patient’s lifestyle and living conditions to determine if a home oxygen prescription is feasible. This template provides a checklist to identify physical risks (e.g., mobility challenges, vision impairment), lifestyle risks (e.g., smoking, alcohol addiction), and environmental risks (e.g., living in a building with multiple occupancy, cooking with a gas stove) to determine if benefits outweigh the risks for home oxygen.

Download Oxygen Risk Assessment Form

School Risk Assessment Form Templates

School risk assessment template.

Complete this customizable school risk assessment template to uncover potential risks for various categories, including school recreation areas, building access, culture, communications, and more. Detail associated hazards, the likelihood and severity of an occurrence, and risk level with existing control measures in place. There is also space to add comments and further actions required to reduce the probability and impact of a risk.

Download School Risk Assessment Template

School Trip Risk Assessment Form

Use this risk assessment form template to identify potential risks that can occur during a school trip. Detail the purpose, destination, and dates of a planned school trip at the top. Then, write a description of potential risks and hazards with a high severity, persons impacted, and the probability and risk level using the provided key. Assign control measures for each risk, as needed, and provide any additional information that can help minimize risk during the trip.

Download School Trip Risk Assessment Form

Student Project Risk Assessment Form

This customizable risk assessment form is ideal for evaluating the level and impact of risks associated with a school project. Add the student’s information and project details at the top, and then list and assess hazards that may occur due to the risks identified. Establish and note control measures in the space provided to help reduce the level and severity of risks. There is also room to provide an assessment conclusion, with lines for signatures at the bottom for the assessor, student, and supervisor.

Download Student Project Risk Assessment Form

Other Risk Assessment Form Templates

Financial risk assessment template.

Use this customizable risk assessment template to pinpoint and classify financial risks associated with various categories, including marketing, human resources, operations, products and services, and any other department. The template has space for you to identify the risk source, describe the potential impact, and select the probability and impact of each risk using the provided keys. There is also a matrix to identify the risk level and determine next steps.

Download Financial Risk Assessment Template

Security Risk Assessment Form

This security risk assessment template is useful for identifying risks related security, including policies and procedures, administrative securities, technical securities, and more. Detail the impact description, likelihood, and risk level, and then assign actions and track the status of existing control measures.

Download Security Risk Assessment Template

IT Risk Assessment Template

This IT risk assessment template comes with a built-in matrix to assign a severity, likelihood, and impact level to each identified risk. Organize risks by type, determine which assets are impacted, identify risk triggers, and add remediation strategies to help lower the internal and user impact of risks.

Download IT Risk Assessment Template

Science Experiment Risk Assessment Form

Use this customizable template to assess risks associated with a science experiment, including the equipment and tools used to conduct the experiment. Add details at the top of the template, and then list the items needed to execute. Use the space provided to include the item’s purpose, potential hazards, and standard handling procedures. Then, assess the experiment by listing risks related to a specific activity; identify probability, impact, and level of risk using the provided key; and establish control measures to mitigate risks and hazards.

Download Science Experiment Risk Assessment Form

For more free resources, visit “ All the Risk Assessment Matrix Templates You Need .”

Purpose of a Risk Assessment

Conducting a risk assessment creates awareness of potential risks and hazards associated with a particular vendor, job, project, or event. A risk assessment is an integral part of a risk management plan, and helps measure the probability and impact of an occurrence.

Once you identify potential risks and hazards and consider the impact and probability of each, you can assess existing control measures to determine if further mitigation actions are necessary. The ultimate goal of the risk assessment process is to create a safer and healthier environment and experience for those who could be impacted by hazards associated with identified risks.

Steps to Conduct a Risk Assessment

Follow these steps to conduct a thorough risk assessment to create a safer workplace, experience, or event:

• Identify and classify potential risks or hazards that may cause physical, mental, chemical, or biological harm.
• Determine the groups of people at risk of being harmed.
• Assess the impact, likelihood, and risk level with existing control measures in place.
• Determine if further action is necessary to mitigate the risks.
• Prioritize the risks by identifying those with higher impact and probability levels.
• Establish an action plan to mitigate risks with assigned roles and responsibilities. 
• Review your risk assessment regularly to determine if you need to take further action.

You can start identifying potential risks and hazards by performing a thorough inspection of the site where you’ll be conducting the work, or by visiting and researching the site where an event will take place. Gather insight from those with experience at the site by conducting interviews and surveys to uncover any past issues. In addition, be sure to consult with manufacturers, suppliers, and associations relevant to your industry to gather valuable safety and health information.

Benefits of Risk Assessment Software

Document, track, control, and review health and safety hazards in the workplace more effectively by using risk assessment and management software. Common benefits of utilizing software include the following:

• Built-in forms allow you to easily disseminate surveys to employees to gather information, and also enable employees to report risks they encounter in the field.
• Attach and submit relevant images and documents to the risk management system from multiple devices.
• Easily organize, classify, store, and track risks in a secure location.
• Store all safety policies and procedures in a centralized place that updates in real time, and ensure all necessary stakeholders have access to it.

To learn if your organization would benefit from risk management software, and how to choose the right software for your needs, visit “ How to Choose the Right Risk Management Software .”

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A complete guide to the risk assessment process

Lucid Content

Reading time: about 7 min

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, once said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”

While this advice isn't new, we think you’ll agree that there are some risks your company doesn’t want to take: Risks that put the health and well-being of your employees in danger.

These are risks that aren’t worth taking. But it’s not always clear what actions, policies, or procedures are high-risk. 

That’s where a risk assessment comes in.

With a risk assessment, companies can identify and prepare for potential risks in order to avoid catastrophic consequences down the road and keep their personnel safe.

What is risk assessment?

During the risk assessment process, employers review and evaluate their organizations to:

• Identify processes and situations that may cause harm, particularly to people (hazard identification).
• Determine how likely it is that each hazard will occur and how severe the consequences would be (risk analysis and evaluation).
• Decide what steps the organization can take to stop these hazards from occurring or to control the risk when the hazard can't be eliminated (risk control).

It’s important to note the difference between hazards and risks. A hazard is anything that can cause harm , including work accidents, emergency situations, toxic chemicals, employee conflicts, stress, and more. A risk, on the other hand, is the chance that a hazard will cause harm . As part of your risk assessment plan, you will first identify potential hazards and then calculate the risk or likelihood of those hazards occurring.

The goal of a risk assessment will vary across industries, but overall, the goal is to help organizations prepare for and combat risk. Other goals include:

• Providing an analysis of possible threats
• Preventing injuries or illnesses
• Meeting legal requirements
• Creating awareness about hazards and risk
• Creating an accurate inventory of available assets
• Justifying the costs of managing risks
• Determining the budget to remediate risks
• Understanding the return on investment

Businesses should perform a risk assessment before introducing new processes or activities, before introducing changes to existing processes or activities (such as changing machinery), or when the company identifies a new hazard.

The steps used in risk assessment form an integral part of your organization’s health and safety management plan and ensure that your organization is prepared to handle any risk.  

Preparing for your risk assessment 

Before you start the risk management process, you should determine the scope of the assessment, necessary resources, stakeholders involved, and laws and regulations that you’ll need to follow. 

Scope: Define the processes, activities, functions, and physical locations included within your risk assessment. The scope of your assessment impacts the time and resources you will need to complete it, so it’s important to clearly outline what is included (and what isn’t) to accurately plan and budget. 

Resources : What resources will you need to conduct the risk assessment? This includes the time, personnel, and financial resources required to develop, implement, and manage the risk assessment. 

Stakeholders: Who is involved in the risk assessment? In addition to senior leaders that need to be kept in the loop, you’ll also need to organize an assessment team. Designate who will fill key roles such as risk manager, assessment team leader, risk assessors, and any subject matter experts. 

Laws and regulations: Different industries will have specific regulations and legal requirements governing risk and work hazards. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets and enforces working condition standards for most private and public sectors. Plan your assessment with these regulations in mind so you can ensure your organization is compliant. 

5 steps in the risk assessment process

Once you've planned and allocated the necessary resources, you can begin the risk assessment process.

Proceed with these five steps.

1. Identify the hazards

The first step to creating your risk assessment is determining what hazards your employees and your business face, including:

• Natural disasters (flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fire, etc.)
• Biological hazards (pandemic diseases, foodborne illnesses, etc.)
• Workplace accidents (slips and trips, transportation accidents, structural failure, mechanical breakdowns, etc.)
• Intentional acts (labor strikes, demonstrations, bomb threats, robbery, arson, etc.)
• Technological hazards (lost Internet connection, power outage, etc.)
• Chemical hazards (asbestos, cleaning fluids, etc.)
• Mental hazards (excess workload, bullying, etc.)
• Interruptions in the supply chain

Take a look around your workplace and see what processes or activities could potentially harm your organization. Include all aspects of work, including remote workers and non-routine activities such as repair and maintenance. You should also look at accident/incident reports to determine what hazards have impacted your company in the past.

Use Lucidchart to break down tasks into potential hazards and assets at risk—try our free template below.

2. Determine who might be harmed and how

As you look around your organization, think about how your employees could be harmed by business activities or external factors. For every hazard that you identify in step one, think about who will be harmed should the hazard take place.

3. Evaluate the risks and take precautions

Now that you have gathered a list of potential hazards, you need to consider how likely it is that the hazard will occur and how severe the consequences will be if that hazard occurs. This evaluation will help you determine where you should reduce the level of risk and which hazards you should prioritize first.

Later in this article, you'll learn how you can create a risk assessment chart to help you through this process.

4. Record your findings

If you have more than five employees in your office, you are required by law to write down your risk assessment process. Your plan should include the hazards you’ve found, the people they affect, and how you plan to mitigate them. The record—or the risk assessment plan—should show that you:

• Conducted a proper check of your workspace
• Determined who would be affected
• Controlled and dealt with obvious hazards
• Initiated precautions to keep risks low
• Kept your staff involved in the process

5. Review your assessment and update if necessary

Your workplace is always changing, so the risks to your organization change as well. As new equipment, processes, and people are introduced, each brings the risk of a new hazard. Continually review and update your risk assessment process to stay on top of these new hazards.

How to create a risk assessment chart

Even though you need to be aware of the risks facing your organization, you shouldn’t try to fix all of them at once—risk mitigation can get expensive and can stretch your resources. Instead, prioritize risks to focus your time and effort on preventing the most important hazards. To help you prioritize your risks, create a risk assessment chart.

The risk assessment chart is based on the principle that a risk has two primary dimensions: probability and impact, each represented on one axis of the chart. You can use these two measures to plot risks on the chart, which allows you to determine priority and resource allocation.

Be prepared for anything

By applying the risk assessment steps mentioned above, you can manage any potential risk to your business. Get prepared with your risk assessment plan—take the time to look for the hazards facing your business and figure out how to manage them.

Now it's time to create your own risk management process, here are five steps to get you started.

Lucidchart, a cloud-based intelligent diagramming application, is a core component of Lucid Software's Visual Collaboration Suite. This intuitive, cloud-based solution empowers teams to collaborate in real-time to build flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, customer journey maps, and more. Lucidchart propels teams forward to build the future faster. Lucid is proud to serve top businesses around the world, including customers such as Google, GE, and NBC Universal, and 99% of the Fortune 500. Lucid partners with industry leaders, including Google, Atlassian, and Microsoft. Since its founding, Lucid has received numerous awards for its products, business, and workplace culture. For more information, visit lucidchart.com.

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The complete guide to a business travel risk assessment in 2022

Are you sending corporate travellers back out into the world here’s how to build risk assessment systems that protect your people in a post-pandemic world. .

As we slowly emerge from two years of COVID-related restrictions, business travellers are packing their suitcases and heading out into the world once more. While it’s nice to see some normality creeping back, it’s also a good time to reassess risk protocols for a changed travel landscape.  

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to risk management. Is your business still relying on pre-COVID risk assessments? Are you taking new risks and restrictions into account? How are you managing risk mitigation? Are you focused on compliance and risk to the business, or traveller risk?  

Read on for our comprehensive guide to corporate travel risk assessment in a post-pandemic world. 

What is a travel risk assessment?  

Business travel comes with risks to both the traveller and the business itself – from missed flights to sickness to natural disasters. Post-COVID, lockdowns and isolation requirements can also pose problems. Travel risk assessments help businesses meet their duty of care obligations, protect their staff and ensure business continuity if anything goes wrong during a trip.  

While a travel risk assessment can’t predict every single eventuality, it can help businesses plan for the worst and keep staff safe while they’re out of the office. A well-designed corporate travel risk assessment will include a rundown of risks to the individual traveller and the business, an evaluation of the likelihood of each risk and mitigation measures for a range of scenarios.  

Raychil Coutts, Corporate Traveller’s Customer Success Leader, explains that customers are rethinking their travel policies to factor in post-pandemic safety .  

“The whole purpose is to challenge a customer to start thinking about the different categories of travel returning. What, as a company, are they doing well? What do they need to work on? Once you’ve highlighted those areas, they can amend internal travel policies and, ultimately, create a clear plan to communicate pre-travel, during travel and post-travel.”  

Business travel and risk in 2022 – what’s changed?  

Business travel has always come with risk. In the last few years, thanks to the pandemic, increasing extreme weather events and political instability, those risks have reached a new level. And the perception of risk is on the rise. According to one study , 75% of Australian and New Zealand businesses felt that travel risks increased in 2021, with 42% expecting those risks to increase even further in 2022.   

Beyond risk, business travel – and business in general – has gone through a messy transformation over the past two years. The pandemic, better cloud access, remote work software and digital natives moving into the workforce have changed the game forever. Working from home has become standard as have hybrid employees, and many businesses now employ remote workers overseas. This means work is no longer neatly divided between in-office and travel. As a result, more businesses are shifting their approach from travel risk management to people-centric risk management, to keep employees safe, no matter where they are.  

Here's what to watch for in 2022:  

• Changing workplace policies to reflect new employment and travel realities  
• Acknowledgement of broad risks in business travel – including extreme weather events, terrorism and cybersecurity risks 
• Increasing awareness of emotional and mental health needs for employees, particularly during business travel – a recent study found that 45% of business travellers have felt anxious or stressed during their trip  
• Re-evaluation of travel risk management programs as travel resumes  
• More flexibility in business travel, as employers let their employees extend trips for leisure  

Your travel risk assessment guide

When should you do a travel risk assessment  .

A risk assessment probably isn’t needed for a conference in your city – but it’s worth doing for any substantial business trip.  

• International travel   Every international trip should involve a risk assessment – the details will depend on where your employees are headed, how long they are staying and the nature of their work.  
• Domestic travel  Domestic travel generally comes with lower risks, but it’s still worth doing a risk assessment in most cases – particularly if employees will be travelling to multiple destinations.  
• Repeat destinations   As long as travel advice and the employee’s individual risk factors stay the same, it’s not necessary to do a brand-new assessment for repeated trips to the same destination.  
• Last-minute travel   While you may not be able to complete a comprehensive assessment for a last-minute trip, it’s well worth doing a quick risk rundown.  

How to create a travel risk assessment  

A travel risk assessment should be completed for each employee travelling on behalf of your business. Whether they’re travelling internationally or staying in the country, heading off for six weeks or six days, visiting a dangerous destination or a quiet country town, it’s a key part of the planning process.  

Done well, a risk assessment covers your corporate obligations and gives your employees peace of mind while they’re travelling. Because everyone involved knows the potential risks and the mitigation plan, there’s no confusion if and when something goes wrong.  

Risk assessment overview:  

• Identify environmental threats.  
• Identify risks to the individual/s travelling.  
• Create a risk assessment matrix (see below) and evaluate each risk factor.  
• Write a mitigation plan for each risk.  
• Communicate risks and mitigation plans to the traveller/s, your in-office team and any other stakeholders.  
• Review and update risk assessment as needed.  

A travel management company (TMC) can be an integral part of your risk assessment strategy. Unlike a traditional travel agency, a TMC provides a broader range of services and in-depth support, particularly for large corporates. As an expert on business travel, it can also provide advice and support around potential risks during the assessment process.    

Part One: Identifying business travel risks  

Risk assessments involve several elements, depending on the destination and the individual traveller. It’s essential to go through your list and identify any risk factors that might affect your staff or your business during travel.  

Individual risks  

Get your staff members to fill in a risk assessment form well before they travel, so you can assess their individual risk levels accurately. While you don’t want to intrude on your employees’ privacy, it is important to know about risk factors that could come up during travel.   

This should cover:  

• General health: does the employee feel healthy enough to travel?  
• Health conditions: do they have health conditions or disabilities that could require accommodation during the trip, e.g. a chronic health condition that requires frequent breaks or mobility issues needing a car service or taxi rather than a hire car?  
• Allergies and food restrictions: allergies could make it difficult to find suitable food in certain countries, and require a plan in case of a reaction, e.g. a person with a peanut allergy travelling in South East Asia.  
• Gender: this can be an increased risk factor in some areas.  
• Other restrictions: does the traveller have a driver’s licence? Will they be able to drive a rental car after an overnight flight? This is about personal limitations and preferences as well.   

The next part of the process involves looking at the risks associated with your destination. People often focus on the potential for major events like natural disasters or terrorist attacks, but it’s far more likely that your team will run into minor disruptions. Even things like sickness or car accidents can be difficult to deal with when you’re away from home, so it’s crucial to plan for this type of event as well.  

“It’s about that risk factor –if we send somebody to Shanghai right now, what are the actual risk factors of going to that country? Unfortunately, it’s not just COVID. There are other things to factor in – healthcare, the status of a country’s crime, civil unrest – all those things. So, a good knowledge of the destination is all part of the process.”  

Transport:  

• Travel restrictions in the area   
• Rules around foreign licences for rental cars  
• On which side of the road must you drive?  
• Any increased travel risks – e.g. poor quality roads, dangerous local traffic, extreme weather

Illness and injury:  

• Increased risk of illness or disease, e.g. malaria in some countries, COVID in others
• Vaccinations or medication required before travel  
• Healthcare availability at the destination – how do travellers get treatment for injuries or illness?  

Crime and political instability:  

• What’s the political situation, and could it change quickly?  
• Does the NZ Government recommend travel to the destination?  
• Crime rates 

Natural disasters and weather events:  

• Does the destination have a high number of natural disasters or extreme weather?  
• Timing – some weather events are more common at certain times of the year, e.g. bushfires in Australia during summer, tornado season in parts of the US.  

Third-party contractors and providers:   

• Reliability and safety of third-party contractors, e.g. will hired drivers show up on time and drive safely?  
• Accommodation security, e.g. are hotels safe and secure?  

Internet access and cybersecurity  

• Availability and reliability of internet access – particularly if employees will be visiting remote areas  
• Cybersecurity and the risk of security breaches while working remotely  

- Entry requirements for your traveller’s destination, e.g. vaccination requirements, recent negative test results  

- Restrictions for the area, e.g. mask requirements or social distancing  

- Isolation rules – if a traveller catches COVID, where will they isolate?  

Know before you go – be prepared with the latest COVID-19 information: 

COVID-19 Travel Hub

Part Two: Risk management planning  

After you’ve worked through the risks involved with an upcoming trip, you need to create a risk management plan. It’s not necessary to write up a detailed mitigation plan for every tiny risk factor, but it is important to include major risks – and the most likely possibilities. 

Policy changes 

• Limit the number of travellers on the same flight.  
• Set policies around approval for travel and risk assessment requirements.  
• Regularly review travel policies. 
• Create policies around coverage for sickness and other events – if an employee has to isolate while overseas, who pays for accommodation?  
• Build trust and confidence in your employees by providing flexible, transparent and safety-focused travel policies.  
• Re-evaluate travel expectations where possible – review your policies around essential and non-essential travel, limit the number of employees travelling at any one time, and offer remote options if available.  

Contact and support  

• Have tools in place to contact, locate and support travellers during a crisis – and be proactive about reaching out if they may be in trouble.  
• Keep thorough records of flights, travel and accommodation bookings – and stay on top of changes and delays.  
• Keep up with travel alerts and news updates.  
• Stay in touch with travellers while they’re away, so you can be aware of issues as soon as they arise.   

Review and revise  

• Get feedback from travellers and other business travel stakeholders after a trip.  
• Review your risk assessment and management plan regularly.  

Assess and mitigate with Corporate Traveller  

Does a travel risk assessment sound more complicated than ever? Working with a TMC like Corporate Traveller, you’ll get support through the risk assessment process and a range of travel risk management solutions, tools and resources . As business travel experts, we’re well informed about the current risks and ongoing issues associated with almost any destination, so we can ensure that you’re informed as well.  

Most importantly, we’re there when the unexpected happens. Our team of experts are dedicated to making your corporate travel experience simpler, faster, and easier, and in the event of a crisis, you have 24/7 access to people who know your business, your duty of care obligations, and what needs to be done to keep your business travellers safe.  

Now more than ever, bring an expert on board 

After the last two years, we’ve seen the widespread impact of COVID-19 and helped countless businesses deal with disrupted and restricted business travel. Although we all hope that the pandemic has passed its worst point, that knowledge will help us support businesses through lingering restrictions.    

• Bookings made through our system – from flights to cars to hotels – are automatically tracked, giving you comprehensive visibility of staff while they’re away.  
• Travellers’ details are stored in the system along with their locations, making it easier to get in touch in an emergency.  
• You can set travel alerts for specific areas, so you and your staff get email or text updates about their destination. These can include weather alerts, traffic information and other disruptions.  
• You have access to our range of travel risk assessment resources, helping you assess your own risks and create effective mitigation plans.  

Raychil explains that visibility and communication are key: “If you can’t, really quickly, identify where your people are, that’s a huge risk for traveller safety . And if you’re sending people internationally, ensure you have a plan linking back to your crisis plan. What will happen if somebody falls sick with COVID? What will your company cover? You’ve got to have really clear expectations from the top down, so people know what’s expected.”    

Of course, it all starts with a thorough business travel risk assessment. Our team can help you through the assessment process, offer input on your travel policies and give you resources and support as you develop your own risk assessment plan.  

For advice on how to develop a crisis management plan for your business, and how to incorporate it into your travel policy with the right process and technology, talk to Corporate Traveller today. We can help you create a simple travel policy-on-a-page to assist travellers and work towards embedding crisis management firmly in your travel program.  

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What is a travel risk assessment?

• Why conduct a risk assessment?
• Risk assessment form
• When to do a risk assessment?
• 5 steps to build the perfect travel risk management program

How to perform a travel risk assessment for employees

If your employees are traveling for business then it’s your responsibility to keep them safe. Reducing risks before travel is a great place to start and more companies are recognising the importance of this step.

This is where a risk assessment comes in; making it possible to identify and manage the potential risks before they happen.  Not only does it show you and the traveler have done some form of due diligence, but also it can help travelers avoid risks all together.

If you’re set with the task of implementing a risk assessment and you need a simplified process, then this guide is here to help you.

A travel risk assessment is integral to achieving duty of care obligations. The goal of the risk assessment is to identify any threats that an employee could face whilst traveling. Travel risks are constantly changing and the assessment covers everything from missing a flight to a global pandemic.

The results of the assessment will form the policies and procedures that’ll be implemented to lower these risks, wherever possible. Passing on this knowledge to the employee is essential, it can prevent incidents happening and protect employees in critical situations. 

Risk assessment matrix

Generally, when managing risk the two main factors to consider are likelihood/probability and impact/severity. When you as a business professional or a travel manager is considering all the individual elements that make up a complete travel risk assessment (e.g. transport method, sanitation, and so on) this judgment between probability and severity should be the basis of most decisions.

The challenge lies in knowing what risks you can tolerate due to their severity and the limitation of your control. At one end of the scale is something very severe like a violent political revolution. Even if it only falls into the probable section of the graph, then this would be something that is too impactful to tolerate, as you, either as a traveler or as a business owner, cannot mitigate the risk effectively.

On the other hand, say the risk is like stomach sickness as a result of different hygiene practices, the risk is very probable, but the impact (providing the traveler is healthy) is limited. This, combined with the fact you can put in place relatively effective counter-measures, means that this risk would normally be deemed acceptable.

Why should you perform a travel risk assessment

Performing a travel risk assessment is key to protecting employees and your business whilst complying with the law. The assessment gives the opportunity to train employees on how to stay safe whilst traveling and what to do if something happens.

A well developed and communicated travel risk assessment will reassure the traveling employee: giving them the confidence to focus on their job with the peace of mind that they’ll know what to do if a situation arises. In turn, as a business you can trust that the employee and you travel manager are aware of potential threats, have set in policies to mitigate them, and you have a well informed employee out there - which is arguably the best defense against incidents.

Risk assessment form [Free resource]

We've made a risk assessment form for you to either print and give to your employees or as a checklist to use pre-travel. Get access to the travel risk assessment template form following this link. Make a copy and use at as you need.

Download your free travel risk assessment now

Our free travel risk assessment template is designed for you to either print or give to employees as a checklist pre-travel.

When to do a travel risk assessment and when not to

If you choose to perform a travel risk assessment, it should be done before any travel starts. Ideally, around five weeks in advance to give enough time to assess complicated trips and , if needs be, medical history. The longer the trip, the longer the risk assessment will take to perform.

Repeat destinations

In many cases, a risk assessment won’t be necessary if your traveler/s frequently visit the same location. Providing there are no major changes to tasks they will be completing, where they will be staying, how they will be traveling, or environmental changes such as political or health, then any previous risk assessment will still be relevant.

Domestic travel

This will largely depend on where your traveler will be going and the nature of the work. Generally speaking, risk assessments are not required for hops between cities or business hubs. However, if the trip will be longer than a week, it may be necessary to brief the employee on some info about their destination.

Last minute travel

Last-minute travelers can still benefit from a short risk assessment, especially if they’ve not traveled to the location before. Since time is of the essence, it is best to conduct a shorter risk assessment, focusing only on major risk factors. It’s advisable for these employees to purchase additional insurance if a full risk assessment can’t be carried out. 

It’s worth noting that although a risk assessment is recommended, it isn’t compulsory. It’s up to the company if they decide to conduct one and it’s especially advised if the employee is traveling to a new environment. 

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What should a travel risk assessment include?

The risk that will be assessed is generally divided into two main categories: the individual and the external environment.

The individual

For the individual, it’s important to have a general understanding of the following:

• Traveler health: Is the employee healthy enough to travel? Are there any health conditions or allergies to consider?
• Travel patterns: Are you thinking of booking a car rental after an overnight flight? Think about the travel itinerary and its effect on the employee.
• Traveler gender and other increased risk factors: Solo female travelers are more likely to be victims of crime than other traveler types, and LGBT travelers are at increased risk of violent assault, especially in certain parts of the world. It’s saddening that travel managers have to consider these factors, but the safety of the individual is paramount. Taking these factors into account for the given destination means you can arm the traveler with all the information they need to make good decisions, and allows businesses to plan accordingly.

Once employee considerations have been made, it’s easier to reduce risks. For example, if an employee discloses they suffer from anxiety related to air travel, you will want to consider booking a train or car instead. If the employee requires disabled access, this needs to be considered when making reservations. 

To give the employees the opportunity to disclose this information, the best option is to send them a questionnaire that they can complete before they travel. 

The environment

The environment that the employee will be encountering needs to be carefully considered. Key things to review are:

• Transport type: Are there any travel restrictions or regulations to be aware of, or are there increased risks (e.g. traveling by car in a part of the country with poor quality roads)? 
• Illness or disease: Is there a heightened risk of catching an infectious disease or an illness? Does the employee need a vaccination or medication prior to traveling? 
• Natural disasters: Is there a chance of a natural disaster in that area, such as an earthquake or a hurricane?
• Crime rate: What are the crime rates at the destination? Advice should be provided to keep the employee safe.

The outbreak of Covid-19 is an example of how travel risks can change quickly. Conducting continuous risk assessments during this period is essential to keeping employees safe in the office or on the road.

Looking at the destination, population density and employee health will give insight into the likelihood of catching and spreading the disease. 

How to implement the risk assessment

There are a few general principles to follow to make sure you implement an effective risk assessment as part of the overall risk management strategy. 

1. Identify environmental threats

From searching travel data online, checking recent new stories and calling local embassies, there are multiple methods to research the environmental risks.  

2. Consider the individuals’ risks

Gather important information by asking employees  to complete a risk assessment form or questionnaire prior to travel. 

3. Evaluate the risks and decide on mitigation measures

The company travel policy can help here: if you add the safety restrictions to your policy, employees simply cannot book options that are deemed high risk. 

4. Communication and training

Talk through the risks with your employees so they understand and can ask any questions they may have. Teach your traveling team how to respond to a wide range of scenarios and make it clear who they can contact if they need help. This is an essential step. 

5. Review and update when necessary

Identify what procedures worked and which could be improved. Could any incidents have been prevented? Refresh your research each time you send an employee on a business trip to be aware of new risks in that location. 

Intro and Link to Travel risk assessment form

Although valuable, developing a thorough travel risk assessment can be a time consuming process. It’s no easy feat to assess all risks, educate employees and do all you can to make sure they’re safe whilst traveling.  

If you’re looking to simplify the process of performing a risk assessment but want to make sure everything is covered, you can download our form here.

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How To Conduct A Travel Risk Assessment

Travel risk assessment — why you should do it and how to do it.

Early travelers relied on maps that only reflected areas already explored and documented. Those maps often used pictures of mythical monsters — fire-breathing dragons on land, the many-tentacled kraken at sea — to indicate the dangers of going somewhere unknown. Consider it an ancient form of travel risk assessment.

Modern business travelers may not fear monsters, but they face an array of very real potential risks including:

• Natural disasters
• Labor strikes
• Civil unrest
• Public health emergencies
• Transportation disruptions
• Public health crisis

These and other issues can affect employees’ health and wellbeing when they travel on business.  Travel risk management is a proactive, consistent, end-to-end approach to protect your people from travel-related risks. By protecting your employees, you protect the resilience of the organization as a whole. Travel risk management is a powerful, programmatic way companies practice their duty of care obligations to keep employees safe when traveling on the organization’s behalf. Knowing there is a plan to reduce risks and take action under changing circumstances also can inspire employee confidence in leaving their homes to close deals and service customers.

Where are the security risks for your business travelers?

The travel risk assessment

Some travel risks are systemic, such as unsettled political situations that could drive unrest in a nation. Others are event-driven such as a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or a transportation worker strike in Paris. Some are more personalized health risks to the traveler, such as COVID-19 or infectious diseases that require a need for vaccinations in a certain region. Environmental conditions could also acutely impact a traveler with a medical condition (poor air quality and lung conditions, for instance).

A travel risk assessment is a detailed analysis of the potential risks business travelers could face on a trip. It forms the basis of travel risk management policy making and the operational planning for helping travelers avoid issues or get home safely.

Where is your starting point? Think about typical domestic and international travel. Where have your travelers historically gone? For instance, if you’re in the financial industry, consider risks for the major financial centers around the world such as London or New York City. Are you a global manufacturer? Map your plant locations. Do you have key customers your people service regularly? This is all data that your travel management company (TMC) should be able to provide.

With this destination map, you have a framework for further investigation. What high risks or travel warnings are clearly associated with those places, such as hurricanes in certain coastal areas or wildfires in others? 

As your risk picture comes into focus, remember that the end of the assessment phase is the beginning of the travel policy adjustment phase. Here, the travel manager — working with other stakeholders such as human resources and senior management — reviews existing travel policies and processes with the goal of mitigating those risks. Maybe you need to limit travelers under certain circumstances or to specific destinations. Perhaps some trips need added layers of approval to assess how important they really are to the business . For some cities, you may need to broaden the range of lodgings considered compliant in order to keep people out of downtown areas to avoid unrest.

Once you’ve worked all this out, you’re still not really done. You need to communicate these concerns and policies to travelers. Much of this can be built right into the booking tools, so that travelers are alerted when they begin their travel plans. Other ways to gain visibility for policy changes include making brief presentations at various staff meetings where you can fully explain the rationale for changes and reassure travelers directly about the mitigation of risks.

Travel managers also need to recognize the dynamic nature of travel risk. Levels of risk can rise and fall. A key destination may be safe for most of the year and then face a natural disaster that immediately changes travel risk. You need to establish an assessment process to stay up to date. That will include a communication plan for any policy changes, as well as travel advice and tips to help travelers in need as the situation evolves.

Find out how you can prioritize your business travelers' wellbeing

Role of TMC

One of the main rules of travel risk management is to centralize all your travel bookings through a single business travel partner like Egencia. This gives you one place to turn to locate your people when a crisis erupts. And in a full-blown crisis, your travel management partner vastly extends the resources you can deploy to get people home safely. For instance, the Egencia Travel Tracker lets you know where your travelers are when situations emerge.

The Egencia online portal and mobile app can implement policies right into the booking process. Policy responses can easily scale and extended approval loops can be programmed for certain trips. And, if the situation demands it, some destinations can be temporarily blocked.

The Egencia mobile app provides another travel risk management tool. We can alert travelers to breaking news that could impact them so they can start making arrangements immediately. We also deliver tips and alerts worth monitoring for a certain destination.

Stay informed, stay successful

Your TMC can and should be a critical part of making travel risk assessment an ongoing process rather than a one-time event. At Egencia, we’re monitoring data constantly.

Travel risk assessment is a never-ending process. We help you spot the modern-day dragons and krakens so your travelers can avoid them.

Looking for better business travel solutions? Get in touch with us.

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How to Use a Business Trip Risk Assessment Template

Don’t let a business trip turn into a travel nightmare by skipping the prep. Understand your risks ahead of time with a business trip risk assessment template.

• When You Need a Travel Risk Assessment
• Benefits of a Template
• Steps to Perform a Risk Assessment

Protecting employees day-to-day is complicated enough, and it only gets harder when client meetings, conferences, offsite visits, or any other business travel opportunity takes them far away from their normal work site. Business trips often introduce threats to employee health and safety alongside increased business opportunities.

And travel managers aren’t the only ones concerned about safety away from home. Our recent State of Employee Safety Report found that safety is a top concern for business travelers, ranking second only to travel delays and disruptions, and less than half (40%) of travelers reported feeling extremely safe when traveling for work.

Investing in travel insurance and providing a robust travel policy are great ways to help fulfill your duty of care and keep your employees safe, but these are only the start of effective travel risk management. To keep your travelers safe, you need to know what to prepare for. This is where a travel risk assessment comes in. When you know what might put your travelers at risk, you can easily provide guidance and protection, so employees feel safer and business can run as usual, even from far away.

Using a travel risk assessment template is a great way to determine your travel risks at scale, even with a small security team, high travel demands, and multiple travel destinations. This article will walk you through how to perform a business trip risk assessment using a template (you can download one for free here ), so you can focus your efforts less on documentation and more on protecting those employees on the road.

When You Do (and Don’t) Need a Travel Risk Assessment

Any time your employees are traveling, there is going to be some level of risk—be it a risk of travel delays or disruptions or more extreme risks like kidnapping, terrorism, or natural disasters. But depending on your travel demands and locations, your safety needs will vary.

If your company is based out of Cincinnati and you primarily have remote employees from across the Midwest traveling to in-office events twice a year, you’ll likely need a less-complicated risk assessment than a company sending their C-suite executives to London, Mexico City, Hong Kong, and other international cities every other month.

Pre-authorizing travel destinations

Some businesses create lists of travel destinations and categorize them ahead of time based on their overall risk level. Delia Midamba, Head of Physical Security at Cloudflare, explained the process her team uses to ensure they have properly assessed their risks for travel requests.

“We take a couple of different approaches. The first is an ‘allow’ list. Those are the countries where if you’re going to work there for less than 20 days, don’t ask us, you’re fine. Just go ahead and go. We’ve evaluated the security risk. We’ve evaluated the tax implications. And we’ve said if it’s less than 20 days, have fun. Then there are the countries that are not on the allow list. And so that at least has allowed us to whittle down how much research we have to do when an employee reaches out. But when they do reach out, we do have to check; what are the safety implications? What are the cybersecurity implications? And then come to a determination on whether the employee can go and what precautions we need to put in place for them to be able to.” —Delia Midamba, Head of Physical Security at Cloudflare

Performing assessments ahead of time for frequent travel destinations means you don’t have to scramble when a trip request lands on your desk. The more complicated your travel situation, the more beneficial a risk assessment is. From those assessments, it’s easy to create lists of travel destinations that are automatically approved from a safety standpoint—like Delia does at Cloudflare—that you can direct employees to when they are looking into travel.

Why Use a Risk Assessment Template

For a risk assessment to be the most useful to your business, you need a clear understanding of a location’s possible threats, the likelihood of those threats impacting your travelers, and an estimation of how the risk would impact your business. It’s also helpful to be able to compare locations and to compare risk scores to previous assessments—to see if locations are growing more or less dangerous over time.

Going beyond a risk matrix

A risk matrix (shown below) is a helpful tool for taking a high-level view of risk, but it doesn’t always allow for the level of granularity that travel risk assessments require. When looking at safety in complicated situations like travel, especially when assessing risk at scale for a larger organization, it’s helpful to have a tool that can accommodate all the information you’ll need to document.

A more robust template like this one you can download for free, is a more streamlined way to ensure you know exactly what to prepare your organization for and inform your employees about when they are traveling.

How to Perform a Travel Risk Assessment

Whether you’re using a template or documenting it some other way, there are six steps to the travel risk assessment process. Here’s what it looks like.

1. Determine your travel destinations

To know what risks your travel plans might hold, you need to know where you’re going. Are your employees primarily traveling between facilities in the contiguous United States? Do you have frequent international travel to other business partners? Create a list of places where your team might travel.

If you have remote/nomadic workers or employees who are planning to work from locations other than their homes for extended periods, you may consider adding these locations to your risk assessments. Your duty of care obligations extend to protecting these employees as well, and there may be higher risks than the employees are aware of.

2. Research potential risks in those locations

Figuring out what risks your employees might face can seem intimidating, but there are plenty of resources available to get you started. The U.S. State Department publishes travel advisories with major threats and any travel warnings or larger travel restrictions in different countries. You can also look through public databases of crime rates, civil unrest, and public health emergencies. If you have a log of past incidents, you can use those as examples as well.

The specific risks you find will vary depending not only on where your employees are traveling, but also on any increased risk factors those employees will have themselves. There may be some locations where high-level executives face an increased risk of kidnapping, and there are areas where LGBTQ+ employees will be at a higher risk for harassment and detention. Here are a few examples of threats to consider in your travel destinations:

• Public health risks/infections disease
• Crime/theft
• Civil unrest/demonstrations
• Travel disruptions
• Infrastructure failures
• Medical emergency
• Cyberattack
• Kidnapping/ransom

If you have access to a threat intelligence system, especially one with a threat history feature that shows past events in each area, this process is going to be a bit more accurate, and quite a bit easier. Whether you’re pulling up threat history through your intelligence system or reviewing public advisories and incident logs, your travel risk management will benefit from this knowledge.

3. Determine the likelihood of those risks

To adequately prioritize and prepare for these risks, you need to know how likely they are to happen. When estimating the potential likelihood of these risks in any given location, you may consider whether your company has faced the threat before, if your employees are part of a frequently targeted group, if the location is in a time of destabilization, and if there are any trend lines in these threats that might indicate a rise in rate of incidence.

It can also be helpful to consider if there are any employees with additional factors that might put them at high risk. Some risk factors might be employees with disabilities or medical conditions, women, LGBTQ+ employees, and religious or ethnic minorities.

4. Estimate the impact of those risks

Next, you’ll determine what the impact of those risks might be if they were to occur. An easy way to break this down into something more actionable is to assess the impact of a given risk to these three facets:

• People —Will this harm your employees?
• Assets —Is company-owned technology or IP in harm’s way?
• Business continuity —How much will this disrupt your business operations?

You can rank impacts within these three categories to create a numerical value of impact. This will help you down the road if you are using an equation to calculate exposure, and it also gives you a high-level way to compare different risks and locations.

5. Calculate your exposure level

The likelihood and impact of a given risk factor into your overall risk exposure score. You can use your exposure level to gain a holistic understanding of any particularly significant hazards. You can also use your exposure level to determine if your mitigation efforts are effective. For example, if your exposure level for infectious disease is particularly high and you don’t have any sort of mitigation or control measures, such as vaccination requirements, you now have a place to start for improving travel safety.

6. Reassess at regular intervals

Like any other kind of risk, travel risks don’t stay the same over time. There are lots of different factors that can change your destination’s risk rating, so creating a regular cadence for reviewing and revising your travel risk assessment is the best way to keep up with any real-time changes.

Communicating about threats with traveling employees

While not officially part of your travel risk assessment, be sure to consider how you will communicate with your traveling employees about any threats or risks during their trip. Establishing multiple communication channels can help in case one channel is unavailable. For example, text messaging may not be an option in other countries, so using a channel like WhatsApp can be critical for reliable international communication.

Protecting Your Traveling Employees at Scale

Travel safety, in a world with an increasingly complicated threat landscape , is not something you want to leave up to chance. Performing a pre-travel risk assessment is one of the best ways to ensure that you can protect the health and safety of your team, no matter where they are in the world. Download this free template to get started . And if you’re looking for an integrated system for protecting your travelers, click here to learn more about how AlertMedia’s Travel Risk Management is the best tool to understanding your travel threats and staying in touch with your employees on the road, all in one streamlined system.

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Travel Risk Assessment

Every trip has unique risks.

No two trips have the same risks – even if you’re a seasoned traveller or have been to the destination before.

A travel risk assessment provides a framework for organisations to identify potential risks associated with each trip. It can be used to assess the risks of travelling to a new location, as well as the risks of returning to a familiar one.

At World Travel Protection, we support clients in implementing a simple yet comprehensive risk assessment:

Each person has a unique risk profile that affects their safety, such as age, gender, sexuality, religion, and ethnicity.

Destination

The location plays a key factor in determining potential threats to the traveller from petty crime and local protests to natural disasters.

What the traveller will be doing during their stay – and local sentiment – can influence their safety and risk of being targeted.

This step is a precursor to the ‘Educate’ component of our Travel Risk Management framework.

Country Intelligence Reports

Country intelligence reports are essential tools for businesses who operate in global markets. These reports provide a detailed analysis of a country’s economic, political and social stability, as well as its business environment.

They can offer insights into a range of factors that could impact your business travel. Some destinations may be more risky than others due to political instability, civil unrest, crime rates, or natural disasters.

At World Travel Protection, our clients can access country intelligence reports via the Travel Assist Portal or App . There, our travellers and their risk managers can review current, in-depth information about countries where travellers are currently located or plan on travelling. Should the status of a country change, we alert our clients to these changing security risks.

These reports are tediously crafted by our team of experienced analysts, security experts and partners on the ground so you can make an informed travel risk assessment before executing your corporate travel plans.

Assessing Your Travel Risk

By assessing the risks associated with corporate and scholastic travel to a particular destination, organisations and schools can make informed decisions and ensure they are fulfilling their duty of care obligations.

Once the risks have been assessed, a plan must be set out to mitigate them. This may involve choosing a different destination, mode of transportation, or accommodation. As well as partnering with a travel risk management company who has experience solving complex issues and handling emergencies abroad.

Once travellers have arrived at their destination, risk managers and travellers must stay informed about the safety situation on the ground. This can be done by monitoring the location of travellers or by checking World Travel Protection country intelligence reports and checking travel plans in real time updates via the integrated itineraries.

If a medical or security issue arises during the travellers’ trip, they can click the ‘Emergency Assistance’ button within our app. This immediately triggers their location and provides the option to call our 24-hour Command Centre .

Risk Assessment Matrix

A risk assessment matrix is a tool commonly used by businesses to evaluate the potential risks associated with a new project or travel venture. We assess various factors such as the likelihood of a security event occurring and the potential damage that could result, meaning businesses can more easily assess the risks involved in different activities.

This type of analysis is used in conjunction with detailed country intelligence and risk assessment reports. It can be extremely helpful in making decisions about which projects to pursue and which to avoid. However, it is important to remember that no risk assessment matrix is perfect, and there is always the potential for unforeseen events to occur. As such, businesses should always ensure they have access to medical and security assistance with 24/7 capabilities to support travellers.

Emergency Communications Plan

Whenever you travel for business, it’s important to have an emergency communications plan in place. That way, if something happens, your organisations and loved ones will know how to get in touch with you.

World Travel Protection streamlines your emergency communications plan. All of your travel information is imported into the app and should an emergency occur your emergency contacts will be alerted. Both our World Travel Protection team and our organisation’s staff will be able to communicate with you directly via the portal to determine if you are safe or in need of help.

You also benefit from integrated itineraries. Travel management companies are integrated with our Travel Assist Portal, automatically feeding all itinerary bookings and changes directly into our portal so organisations and risk managers can see their travellers’ plans in one place.

Preparing Your Team

There are a number of travel-related risks that can impact your health and safety, from minor illnesses such as gastroenteritis to more significant hazards including a stroke, political unrest, or natural disaster. It’s important to do your research and perform risk assessments before you travel, so you can be as prepared as possible. This includes familiarising yourself with the local laws and customs, so that you can avoid any legal trouble. As well as having the number of local law enforcement authorities should you become a victim of crime.

We offer a range of travel insights from World Travel Protection medical, travel and security assistance specialists, to help prepare business travellers for their upcoming trips. 

World Travel Protection also offers additional security training solutions to ensure travellers and their risk managers are well-prepared for a wide range of travel risks that they may encounter while away from home. These include the following:

• Active Shooter Safety Training
• Female Traveller Safety Training
• LGBTQ+ Travel Awareness Training
• Global Road Safety Training

In these courses, you’ll learn how to spot safety hazards, what to do in a potential emergency abroad, and how to protect yourself from crime or security risks.

Stay on top of shifting global travel, medical and security risks

Plus gain exclusive access to resources, products and trends before they hit the market

Manage Travel Risk with the ISO 31030 Guidance

The ISO 31030 is an industry-first best practice framework that helps organisations evaluate and manage their travel risks effectively. We’ve developed an FAQ page and a self- audit guide to help you and your team review your travel risk policies and identify any potential gaps in your current processes.

Travel Risk Management

In the event of an emergency, the World Travel Protection team is on hand 24/7 to provide support and assistance. Our team of crisis managers are experienced in dealing with a wide range of emergencies, from medical emergencies and natural disasters to political unrest and civil disturbance.  We provide regular check-ins, traveller location sharing, and bespoke security plans for organisations travelling to high-risk destinations. And, in the event of an emergency, we find the appropriate care based on your circumstances, and get you to a safe location, utilising our GlobalCare Provider Network . 

Discover how we can help you and your team by scheduling a demonstration of our World Travel Protection Travel Risk Management Solutions . Simply fill out the form below and we will be in touch soon.

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How to Conduct a Risk Assessment for Slips, Trips, and Falls

When was the last time you conducted a risk assessment at your facility for slips, trips and falls?  Has it been more than a year?  If so, you’re due for another assessment.

According to Jerry Chapman, Corporate Safety Manager at ITU AbsorbTech, once you’ve assessed your facility, it becomes a matter of sustainability.  Any time you have a floor layout or traffic flow change, you should reassess.  You should also reassess at least annually to look for changes or maintenance issues.  Conduct your observations at different times of the day and year to account for shift changes and seasonal changes such as snow being tracked indoors.

What are Slips, Trips and Falls?

A slip results from too little friction between footwear and the walking surface, resulting in loss of balance.  Common culprits include water, snow, mud, grease, oil, food, dust, powders, fresh wax, and poor housekeeping.

A trip occurs when the foot or lower leg comes in contact with an object or steps down and loses balance.

A fall can occur at the same level, or to a lower level and occurs when someone is off their center of balance.

Why conduct a facility assessment?

A facility assessment helps identify the location of high risk hazards.  According to OSHA, the majority of general industry accidents are slips, trips, and falls. They cause 15% of all accidental deaths and are second only to motor vehicle accidents as a cause of fatalities. And most could have been prevented.

Slips, trips, and falls are regulated by OSHA and ANSI.  29 CFR 1910 Subpart D includes requirements for housekeeping, aisles, floor and wall openings, open-sided floors, stairways, railings, stairs, scaffolding and ladders.  The requirements can be found on the OSHA web site .

In addition, ANSI has adopted standards for floor safety in partnership with the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI).  The B101.1 floor safety standard makes property owners accountable for the slip resistance of their walkways.

Slips, trips and falls can be costly to your company.  According to the 2016 National Safety Council report, the average costs for a slip/fall incident was $31,788 for a knee injury, $26,357 for an ankle injury, and $24,964 for a foot or toe injury.  This doesn’t include the cost of reduced productivity, training a replacement worker, OSHA fines, and increase in insurance premiums.  There are also costs to the employee, including lost wages, pain, potential disability or emotional disorder, and even death.

Who should be involved in an assessment? 

This is determined by your organizational structure, corporate culture, and style of safety management.  For example, the culture at ITU AbsorbTech is team-based with group participation and engagement. All managers and their respective employees are involved in the process.

Other styles may be more authoritative or control-based.  The style of safety management will determine how your assessment is conducted.

An Environmental Heath & Safety Manager may conduct the assessment, an insurance representative can advise, and outside vendors and consultants can offer third party advice in their respective area of expertise. For example, as a safety floor mat provider, our company conducts hundreds of facility assessments each year and can identify slip hazards often overlooked.

Areas to Assess

The first step in your assessment is to make a list of all the risk areas.  The most common are:

• Level floors
• Raised surface (such as a mezzanine or boom lift)
• Parking Lot

What are the different ways to assess your facility?

Job safety analysis (jsa).

A job safety analysis is a systematic study of work prodedures or instructions to determine hazards created by unsafe hazards or conditions within in a job or task. This should be completed for any job that has high or serious accident frequency, is hazardous in nature, has a new or different tasks, is seasonal or temporary, or can cause pain or ergonomic risks.  To conduct a JSA, identify all possible hazards or unsafe conditions, including slips, trips, and falls, pinched fingers, flygin debris, etc. Each hazard should be addressed with a corrective procedure, improved environment (such as a safety rail or PPE), and/or reduced frequency.

Observation

Past history/trend analysis, employee feedback, safety checklists.

OSHA provides a number of safety checklists located here : http://www.isri.org/safety-best-practices/isri-safety/isri-safety-resources/osha-resources/osha-inspection-checklist#.WG6nZFMrJEY

We put together a quick checklist for some of the common slip, trip and fall hazards to watch for.

Slips and Trips, and Falls Prevention Checklist

• Paved entrance cracking or uneven
• Ice, water, or mud tracked in from the outdoors
• Rumpled floor mats or carpet with curled edges
• Uneven transition from one surface to another
• Coffee spills
• Puddles by the water fountain
• Cafeteria sinks
• Spills near food vending areas
• Slick floor from polish or wax
• Open cabinets, files, or desk drawers
• Missing or uneven floor tiles
• Bathroom sinks or toilets leaking or overflowing
• Soap spills
• Puddles under air dryer or towel station
• Slick floor from mopping
• Chemicals, fluids that can be tracked, spilled, sprayed, dripped
• Leaking or dripping fluids in and around machinery
• Pallets or tools in gangways
• Protruding nails, splinters, holes, or loose boards
• Dusts, powers, granules, or plastic wrapping
• Obstructions in aisles and passageways
• Piled up items
• Uncovered hoses, cables, wires, or extension cords

Additional Checklists

OSHA provides checklists for the following areas regarding fall protection.  Click on the link to view the checklist.

• Raised Surface : Fall protection on walking or working surfaces that are 6 feet or more above lower levels.
• Guardrails: Guardrail systems, personal fall arrest systems, or warning line systems.
• Controlled-access: Controlled-access zones, safety monitoring systems, covers, protection from falling objects, or fall protection plans are used.

Risk management

A facility assessment is an ongoing process.  Along with the risk assessment comes the process of risk management and root cause analysis. In this stage, you will evaluate the conditions responsible for a hazard.  Is it the environment?  Poor lighting?  Temperature?  Air quality? Health condition of employees?  Improper personal protective equipment or footwear? Poor housekeeping?  Improper cleaning methods?  Lack of signs or training?  Lack of motivation?

A facility assessment provides a framework for risk analysis, but the process doesn’t end there.  Here is a list of some of Jerry’s favorite safety resources to learn more:

• Safetycom: For tips on home and family
• KellerOnline.com : Subscription to this has been a great resource
• OSHA.gov/law-regs.html : Note if regulation number is highlighted it has links to directives/letters and interpretations

Jerry Chapman is the Corporate Safety Manager for ITU AbsorbTech.  He is a certified safety professional that has helped ITU AbsorbTech achieve an 82% reduction in injury rates in the past 10 years (compared to previous 10 years) with an average incident rate at about half of the industry average.  Jerry also played a role in helping ITU AbsorbTech win the Wisconsin Corporate Safety award in 2010, 2012, 2014, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Safety Award in 2012, and the Indiana Governor’s Workplace Safety Awar in 2012.

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The ‘How To’ Of School Trip Risk Assessments

Unfortunately, carrying out risk assessments is a key part of  booking a school trip  Whether you’re heading abroad, or staying a little closer to home, it’s important to make sure that your destination is a safe place for your students.

Although they may sound daunting, there is a lot of help available to make sure that you carry out all the necessary safety checks prior to your trip.

To help, we’ve pulled together a downloadable document that features everything you should be including in a thorough school trip risk assessment. Following this guide will help ensure  safety on your school trip  and give you the peace of mind that every eventuality has be thought through.

Take a look at  our guide  to managing risk on your upcoming school tour, and download your free copy today!

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• Education, training and skills
• Pupil wellbeing, behaviour and attendance
• Health, safety and wellbeing in schools

Health and safety on educational visits

• Department for Education

Published 26 November 2018

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2018

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected] .

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-on-educational-visits/health-and-safety-on-educational-visits

Types of trip

The 2 main types of trip are:

• routine visits
• trips that need a risk assessment and extra planning

Routine visits

These involve no more than an everyday level of risk, such as for slips and trips, and are covered by a school’s current policies and procedures. They only need a little extra planning beyond the educational aspect of the trip and can be considered as a lesson in a different classroom.

Trips that need a risk assessment and extra planning

These are trips not covered by a school’s current policies. This could be due to considerations such as the:

• distance from the school
• type of activity
• need for staff with specialist skills

Sometimes a school may simply need to review its current plans or arrangements that were successful on previous trips. However, some trips will need a risk assessment, detailed planning and the informed approval of the headteacher or governing board. The person given the job of managing this should:

• have the skills, status and competence needed for the job
• understand the risks involved
• be familiar with the activity

Plans should be proportionate and sensible, focusing on how to manage genuine risks.

When to seek consent from parents or carers

A school must always get written consent for nursery-age children.

For children over nursery age, written consent is not needed for most trips, as they’re part of the curriculum. However, it’s good practice to tell parents or carers about them.

Written consent is usually only needed for trips that:

• need a higher level of risk assessment
• are outside normal school hours

The school can ask parents to sign a consent form when their child enrols. This will cover them for their whole time at the school. Advice on consent forms is available on the Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel ( OEAP ) website.

A school should still tell parents or carers about such trips and give them the opportunity to withdraw their child.

Using outside organisations

Schools using an outside organisation to provide an activity must check the organisation has appropriate safety standards and public liability insurance.

The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom ( LOtC ) awards the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge to organisations that meet nationally recognised standards.

Schools can check if an organisation holds the LOtC Quality Badge .

If an organisation does not hold the badge, the school must ensure that they’re an appropriate organisation to use. This could include checking:

• their insurance
• that they meet legal requirements
• their health and safety and emergency policies
• their risk assessments
• control measures
• their use of vehicles
• staff competence
• safeguarding
• accommodation
• any sub-contracting arrangements they have
• that they have a licence, where needed

The school should have an agreement with the organisation that makes it clear what everyone is responsible for. This is especially important if they will be taking over supervision of the children.

Adventure activities: caving, climbing, trekking and watersports

These kinds of activities should be identified and risk assessed as part of the visit beforehand. Staff managing or leading visits must not decide to add such activities during the trip. They should always consider the abilities of the children when assessing risk.

Organisations need a licence to provide some adventure activities. Organisations that hold the LOtC Quality Badge should hold a licence for the activity they provide.

Information about licensing is available on the Health and Safety Executive ( HSE ) website.

Watersports

When planning watersports, schools should consider the need for:

• instructors

A school should take particular care when using hotel swimming pools and other water-based leisure facilities that may not have a trained lifeguard on duty. Although there are no swimming-pool-specific health and safety laws, the OEAP provides useful advice about undertaking adventure specialist activities, including swimming.

Trips abroad

Trips abroad can present extra risks and need a higher level of risk assessment.

Schools should make sure that any organisation providing activities holds the LOtC Quality Badge or similar local accreditation.

The HSE does not cover incidents overseas. However, it can investigate work carried out in Britain to support the trip, such as a risk assessment. School staff could be liable under civil law for any injuries to the children due to negligence.

If the trip includes significant risks, such as challenging terrain, a remote location or an extreme climate, a school should follow the guide to the British Standard for adventurous activities outside the United Kingdom as the basis for its planning and risk assessment. Organisations employed by the school should follow this, too. If they have a LOtC Quality Badge, they follow this standard.

Schools should consider the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s detailed guidance on safer adventure travel and volunteering overseas and foreign travel advice when organising a visit abroad.

Knowing what to do in an emergency

Schools should have an emergency response plan that covers what to do if there is an incident away from school. They should also have a communications plan that covers how routine communications should be handled, including regular check-ins and calls to reassure people. Trip leaders should be familiar with the plan.

Schools can get advice on creating a communications plan from their outdoor activity adviser or the OEAP website .

Evaluating trips

A school should set up a clear process for evaluating all visits once they have been concluded, from the planning through to the visit itself. It should keep a record of any incidents, accidents and near-misses.

This will help it:

• evaluate whether its planning has worked
• learn from any incidents which took place

Educational visits coordinators

Schools should appoint an educational visits coordinator and make sure they have the training they need. The headteacher assumes this duty if there is no coordinator. Local authorities or academy trust outdoor education advisers can advise on appointing and training coordinators.

The coordinator works with the outdoor education adviser to help their colleagues in school to assess and manage risks.

The coordinator should:

• be an experienced visits leader
• have the status to be able to guide the working practices of other staff
• be confident in assessing the ability of other staff to lead visits
• be confident in assessing outside activity providers
• be able to advise headteachers and governors when they’re approving trips
• have access to training, advice and guidance

Guidance is also available on the OEAP website .

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Qualitative Analysis and Risk Assessments

CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) uses data, models, and analytics to assess public health threats. We use a range of quantitative and qualitative techniques in our assessments, which help support public health response and strengthen national security. When quantitative data are limited, we apply qualitative risk assessment methods to rapidly assess the public health implications of an outbreak. For each assessment, we consider evidence underpinning risk, key uncertainties, and factors that could change the assessment.

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Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies

LexisNexis, which generates consumer risk profiles for the insurers, knew about every trip G.M. drivers had taken in their cars, including when they sped, braked too hard or accelerated rapidly.

Some drivers of General Motors cars, like these Chevrolet Bolts, may not realize that their driving data is being shared with insurance companies. Credit... Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Supported by

By Kashmir Hill

Kashmir Hill has been writing about technology and privacy for more than a decade.

• Published March 11, 2024 Updated March 13, 2024

Kenn Dahl says he has always been a careful driver. The owner of a software company near Seattle, he drives a leased Chevrolet Bolt. He’s never been responsible for an accident.

So Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor.

LexisNexis is a New York-based global data broker with a “Risk Solutions” division that caters to the auto insurance industry and has traditionally kept tabs on car accidents and tickets. Upon Mr. Dahl’s request, LexisNexis sent him a 258-page “ consumer disclosure report ,” which it must provide per the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What it contained stunned him: more than 130 pages detailing each time he or his wife had driven the Bolt over the previous six months. It included the dates of 640 trips, their start and end times, the distance driven and an accounting of any speeding, hard braking or sharp accelerations. The only thing it didn’t have is where they had driven the car.

On a Thursday morning in June for example, the car had been driven 7.33 miles in 18 minutes; there had been two rapid accelerations and two incidents of hard braking.

According to the report, the trip details had been provided by General Motors — the manufacturer of the Chevy Bolt. LexisNexis analyzed that driving data to create a risk score “for insurers to use as one factor of many to create more personalized insurance coverage,” according to a LexisNexis spokesman, Dean Carney. Eight insurance companies had requested information about Mr. Dahl from LexisNexis over the previous month.

“It felt like a betrayal,” Mr. Dahl said. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.”

In recent years, insurance companies have offered incentives to people who install dongles in their cars or download smartphone apps that monitor their driving, including how much they drive, how fast they take corners, how hard they hit the brakes and whether they speed. But “drivers are historically reluctant to participate in these programs,” as Ford Motor put it in a patent application that describes what is happening instead: Car companies are collecting information directly from internet-connected vehicles for use by the insurance industry.

Sometimes this is happening with a driver’s awareness and consent. Car companies have established relationships with insurance companies, so that if drivers want to sign up for what’s called usage-based insurance — where rates are set based on monitoring of their driving habits — it’s easy to collect that data wirelessly from their cars.

But in other instances, something much sneakier has happened. Modern cars are internet-enabled, allowing access to services like navigation, roadside assistance and car apps that drivers can connect to their vehicles to locate them or unlock them remotely. In recent years, automakers, including G.M., Honda, Kia and Hyundai, have started offering optional features in their connected-car apps that rate people’s driving. Some drivers may not realize that, if they turn on these features, the car companies then give information about how they drive to data brokers like LexisNexis.

Automakers and data brokers that have partnered to collect detailed driving data from millions of Americans say they have drivers’ permission to do so. But the existence of these partnerships is nearly invisible to drivers, whose consent is obtained in fine print and murky privacy policies that few read.

Especially troubling is that some drivers with vehicles made by G.M. say they were tracked even when they did not turn on the feature — called OnStar Smart Driver — and that their insurance rates went up as a result.

“GM’s OnStar Smart Driver service is optional to customers,” a G.M. spokeswoman, Malorie Lucich, said. “Customer benefits include learning more about their safe driving behaviors or vehicle performance that, with their consent, may be used to obtain insurance quotes. Customers can also unenroll from Smart Driver at any time.”

Even for those who opt in, the risks are far from clear. I have a G.M. car, a Chevrolet. I went through the enrollment process for Smart Driver; there was no warning or prominent disclosure that any third party would get access to my driving data.

“I am surprised,” said Frank Pasquale, a law professor at Cornell University. “Because it’s not within the reasonable expectation of the average consumer, it should certainly be an industry practice to prominently disclose that is happening.”

Policymakers have expressed concern about the collection of sensitive information from consumers’ cars. California’s privacy regulator is currently investigating automakers’ data collection practices. Last month, Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts also urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate.

“The ‘internet of things’ is really intruding into the lives of all Americans,” Senator Markey said in an interview. “If there is now a collusion between automakers and insurance companies using data collected from an unknowing car owner that then raises their insurance rates, that’s, from my perspective, a potential per se violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act.”

That is the federal law that prohibits unfair and deceptive business practices that harm consumers.

‘Smart Driver’

Mr. Dahl shared his experience on an online forum for Chevy Bolt enthusiasts, on a thread where other people expressed shock to find that LexisNexis had their driving data. Warnings about the tracking are scattered across online discussion boards dedicated to vehicles manufactured by G.M. — including Corvettes, a sports car designed for racking up “acceleration events.” (One driver lamented having data collected during a “track day,” while testing out the Corvette’s limits on a professional racetrack.)

Numerous people on the forums complained about spiking premiums as a result. A Cadillac driver in Palm Beach County, Fla., who asked not to be named because he is considering a lawsuit against G.M., said he was denied auto insurance by seven companies in December. When he asked an agent why, she advised him to pull his LexisNexis report. He discovered six months of his driving activity, including many instances of hard braking and hard accelerating, as well as some speeding.

“I don’t know the definition of hard brake. My passenger’s head isn’t hitting the dash,” he said. “Same with acceleration. I’m not peeling out. I’m not sure how the car defines that. I don’t feel I’m driving aggressively or dangerously.”

When he finally obtained car insurance, through a private broker, it was double what he had previously been paying.

The Cadillac owner, Mr. Dahl and the drivers on the forums had all been enrolled in OnStar Smart Driver. OnStar is G.M.’s Internet-connected service for its cars and Smart Driver is a free, gamified feature within G.M.’s connected car apps (all part of OnStar, but branded MyChevrolet, MyBuick, MyGMC and MyCadillac).

Smart Driver can “help you become a better driver,” according to a corporate website , by tracking and rating seatbelt use and driving habits. In a recent promotional campaign, an Instagram influencer used Smart Driver in a competition with her husband to find out who could collect the most digital badges, such as “brake genius” and “limit hero.”

In response to questions from The New York Times, G.M. confirmed that it shares “select insights” about hard braking, hard accelerating, speeding over 80 miles an hour and drive time of Smart Driver enrollees with LexisNexis and another data broker that works with the insurance industry called Verisk.

Customers turn on Smart Driver, said Ms. Lucich, the G.M. spokeswoman, “at the time of purchase or through their vehicle mobile app.” It is possible that G.M. drivers who insisted they didn’t opt in were unknowingly signed up at the dealership, where salespeople can receive bonuses for successful enrollment of customers in OnStar services, including Smart Driver, according to a company manual .

The Cadillac owner in Florida said he had not heard of Smart Driver and never noticed it in the MyCadillac app. He reviewed the paperwork he signed at the dealership when he bought his Cadillac in the fall of 2021 and found no mention of signing up for it.

“When a customer accepts the user terms and privacy statement (which are separately reviewed in the enrollment flow), they consent to sharing their data with third parties,” Ms. Lucich wrote in an email, pointing to OnStar’s privacy statement .

But that statement’s section on “third-party business relationships” does not mention Smart Driver. It names SiriusXM as a company G.M. might share data with, not LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which G.M. has partnered with since 2019 .

Jen Caltrider, a researcher at Mozilla who reviewed the privacy policies for more than 25 car brands last year, said that drivers have little idea about what they are consenting to when it comes to data collection. She said it is “impossible for consumers to try and understand” the legalese-filled policies for car companies, their connected services and their apps. She called cars “a privacy nightmare.”

“The car companies are really good at trying to link these features to safety and say they are all about safety,” Ms. Caltrider said. “They’re about making money.”

Neither the car companies nor the data brokers deny that they are engaged in this practice, though automakers say the main purpose of their driver feedback programs is to help people develop safer driving habits.

After LexisNexis and Verisk get data from consumers’ cars, they sell information about how people are driving to insurance companies. To access it, the insurance companies must get consent from the drivers — say, when they go out shopping for car insurance and sign off on boilerplate language that gives insurance companies the right to pull third-party reports. (Insurance companies commonly ask for access to a consumer’s credit or risk reports, though they are barred from doing so in California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Hawaii.)

An employee familiar with G.M.’s Smart Driver said the company’s annual revenue from the program is in the low millions of dollars.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which retains consumers’ driving data for six months, has “strict privacy and security policies designed to ensure that data is not accessed or used impermissibly,” the company said in a statement.

Verisk provides insurers with trip data and a risk score “approved by insurance regulators in 46 states and the District of Columbia,” said a spokeswoman, Amy Ebenstein. Automakers that Verisk gets data from “provide their customers notice and obtain appropriate consents,” she said.

Some drivers who had Smart Driver turned on, though, said they did not even realize they were enrolled until they saw warnings on online forums and then checked their app. They quickly unenrolled themselves by turning off Smart Driver in their car app.

Omri Ben-Shahar, a law professor at the University of Chicago, said he was in favor of usage-based insurance — where insurers monitor mileage and driving habits to determine premiums — because people who are knowingly monitored are better drivers. “People drive differently,” he said. “The impact on safety is enormous.”

But he was troubled, he said, by “stealth enrollment” in programs with “surprising and potentially injurious” data collection. There is no public safety benefit if people don’t know that how they drive will affect how much they pay for insurance.

‘Real-World Driving Behavior’

General Motors is not the only automaker sharing driving behavior. Kia, Subaru and Mitsubishi also contribute to the LexisNexis “ Telematics Exchange ,” a “portal for sharing consumer-approved connected car data with insurers.” As of 2022, the exchange, according to a LexisNexis news release , has “real-world driving behavior” collected “from over 10 million vehicles.”

Verisk also claims to have access to data from millions of vehicles and partnerships with major automakers, including Ford, Honda and Hyundai.

Two of these automakers said they were not sharing data or only limited data. Subaru shares odometer data with LexisNexis for Subaru customers who turn on Starlink and authorize that data be shared “when shopping for auto insurance,” said a spokesman, Dominick Infante.

Ford “does not transmit any connected vehicle data to either partner,” said a spokesman, Alan Hall, but partnered with them “to explore ways to support customers” who want to take part in usage-based insurance programs. Ford will share driving behavior from a car directly with an insurance company, he said, when a customer gives explicit consent via an in-vehicle touch screen.

The other automakers all have optional driver-coaching features in their apps — Kia , Mitsubishi and Hyundai have “Driving Score,” while Honda and Acura have “Driver Feedback” — that, when turned on, collect information about people’s mileage, speed, braking and acceleration that is then shared with LexisNexis or Verisk, the companies said in response to questions from The New York Times.

But that would not be evident or obvious to drivers using these features. In fact, before a Honda owner activates Driver Feedback, a screen titled “Respect for your Privacy” assures drivers that “your data will never be shared without your consent.” But it is shared — with Verisk, a fact disclosed in a more than 2,000-word “terms and conditions” screen that a driver needs to click “accept” on. (Honda does mention Verisk in an FAQ on its website and Kia highlights its relationship with LexisNexis Risk Solutions on its website . A Kia spokesman said LexisNexis can’t share driving score data of Kia participants with insurers without additional consent.)

Drivers who have realized what is happening are not happy. The Palm Beach Cadillac owner said he would never buy another car from G.M. He is planning to sell his Cadillac.

How to Find Out What Your Car Is Doing

See the data your car is capable of collecting with this tool: https://vehicleprivacyreport.com/ .

Check your connected car app, if you use one, to see if you are enrolled in one of these programs.

Do an online search for “privacy request form” alongside the name of your vehicle’s manufacturer. There should be instructions on how to request information your car company has about you.

Request your LexisNexis report: https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/consumer

Request your Verisk report: https://fcra.verisk.com/#/

Find something interesting, or know more about this? Contact me at [email protected].

Susan C. Beachy contributed research.

An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely to Honda’s disclosure of its relationship with Verisk, the data broker. That relationship is described in an FAQ on Honda’s website.

How we handle corrections

Kashmir Hill writes about technology and how it is changing people’s everyday lives with a particular focus on privacy. She has been covering technology for more than a decade. More about Kashmir Hill

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