A new study shows stark differences in the way European companies protect their employees from risks and threats when working abroad.

Based on the responses of nearly 200 European companies, the International SOS study found that despite a highly regulated environment, European companies lag behind their US and Australian counterparts in implementing duty of care practices. Although respondents carried out risk assessments and put policies and procedures in place, they do less than the rest of the world to implement the necessary actions to protect their employees.

France scored higher than other European countries in all areas of the duty of care risk management model, with a much higher score of 69, than Germany which fell short of the mark with a score of 60. The only area where France fell short was in managing global mobility and control and analysis. In terms of assistance, only Switzerland operates above worldwide respondents, whereas the Netherlands ranks the highest for managing global mobility.

European companies more likely to have employees of all types working or travelling to high risk locations than other worldwide companies. The highest risk countries are also major destinations for international business, with Nigeria ranked the highest, followed by Pakistan, India, Mexico and Russia. European respondents also reported a higher occurrence of employee threats during the past three years for situations related to travel-related infections and road accidents.

"In the 21st century, duty of care should be on the sustainability agenda of any smart employer. Proactively looking after your people is not only the right thing to do – it’s much less costly than managing incidents once they've happened,” explained Kevin Duffey, managing director for Northern Europe, International SOS. “We would recommend European business leaders view these findings as a first priority. After all, a company’s employees are its most valuable asset and companies must be prepared for the unexpected.”

Whilst there was a high level of awareness of the importance of duty of care amongst medical directors, a lower level of awareness was notable among European senior management, at an executive and country level.
International SOS advises that duty of care should be considered everyone’s responsibility, as the author of the report, Dr Lisbeth Claus explained: “A joined-up corporate approach to owning duty of care is as lacking in Europe as it is worldwide.

“Decision-making responsibilities around duty of care are paramount to an organisation’s ability to pro-actively manage risks and threats effectively. Security, risk management, travel and medical professionals already know this, but they face huge challenges in gaining the momentum and resources to implement the necessary strategy. Companies must expand their teams beyond security and collaborate together to provide higher standards of duty of care.”

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