Share

A Risky Business - September 2011

Keeping your staff safe overseas

The recent unrest in Middle East countries in which there is considerable potential for companies from the North-east to do business has focussed the spotlight on safety and security.

Thats left companies questioning if there are countries which firms should strike off their list as potential destinations for new business and how safe will it be for staff if they go there?

“Our job here is to ensure people understand those countries in terms of security, politics, whether they are democratic, what their transparency rating is and whether they are highly corrupt?” he said.

“All these add up to allow companies to decide on balance ‘We could be in business here’ or ‘We wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.”

In reaching that decision the safety and security of staff is a vital factor and AKE Ltd is the Chamber’s partner in The Africa Business Centre which provides the intelligence, guidance and advice essential to

companies wishing to enter the difficult energy markets of Africa.

The Chamber’s advice is always to seek guidance from a company which specialises in ensuring travellers overseas are safe.

John Drake is Senior Risk Consultant with AKE and divides his time between Aberdeen, London and Iraq. He said that the very nature of the oil and gas business means those involved traditionally operate in frontier markets of the world which are often unstable and where there may be risk.

“Companies in the energy sector have a number of health and safety concerns they need to take into account when they are working in the North Sea but they often don’t require any further training or qualifications before they travel to places like Nigeria.

“If we are going to maintain a good safety record for companies in the North-east they really have to consider having more safety measures or an additional set of qualifications or training before they go and work in these parts of the world.  Without those there is the potential for accidents and even the more high risk and distressing things like kidnapping and terrorist attacks.”

However he said it was primarily a case of training and awareness and companies should not be deterred.

“I often work in Iraq which is traditionally seen as a little bit more unstable and dangerous but because there is not the same unrest as there is elsewhere in the Middle East people are considering going back there.

“Similarly places like Angola and Brazil are appearing more attractive because of the unrest in the Middle East but there is so much opportunity still present in the Middle East and North Africa that companies are still going to have to do business there. “

He said that to do business in the Middle East in the future the culture dictated it was important to have a long term presence in the area.

“You have to maintain strong relationships with your business partners in that part of the world or you will lose out to your competitors, rivals who are more willing to face the risks and deal with them  “Kidnap and that sort of event is most concerning but also probably least likely to affect you.  Businesses are more likely to be affected by the more mundane things such illness or road traffic accidents if people are working in places like West Africa.  You have to take more basic precautions, more common sense measures and it is just a case of raising awareness.

“If you look after your staff, train them, prepare them and provide them with intelligence so they are aware of what is going on you will increase their confidence in working in these countries, you will increase their morale and you will probably have a lower staff turnover.

“We are just opening up an office in Nigeria and have offices in Baghdad and Kabul and we have to prepare our own staff before they go to work in these places.  I work there and I am not ex-military or particularly experienced – I have just been trained.

“I am confident I know what is happening and I know we have proper security. Most of our employees in Iraq are Iraqi nationals so they have local knowledge and cultural awareness.  We don’t travel around in massive convoys we go in cars which are low profile and no one even spots us.  A major part of it is common sense.”

That is a message echoed by former police officer Tom Marchbank, Project Manager with Altor Risk Group which has its headquarters in Aberdeen.

Altor, which also has offices in Kuala Lumpur and Dubai, was established by former police and military professionals with experience in the security industry.

“One of the things we have in our toolkit is a safe travel package and that can either be presented in document form or through training,” he said. “Whenever you contemplate putting members of staff overseas you have to risk assess what that will involve and you can go to websites like the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a starting point.

“They will tell you what the threat level is whether it is Nigeria the Far East or Yemen. They will also clarify what documentation you require like passports and visas.

“You also have to think about what company documentation you are taking and in what form. Individuals can carry a tremendous amount of company information on a memory stick for example and they should not advertise they are travelling with a particular company.  Try and keep everything as anonymous as possible.”

He said there were the obvious threats like kidnapping.

“I received notification a few days ago that Somali kidnappings were averaging 31 a month but even in some of the more benign countries there is criminal activity.

“Even in Aberdeen if you go to the wrong places you are likely to get mugged at night. However it is like the warning on Crimewatch – don’t have nightmares it is still a small minority of people who are affected.

“You should take the proper precautions, plan ahead, make sure there is someone to meet you at the other end, someone with local knowledge. People will be watching you arrive at the airport or come off boats and they can very quickly identify the soft targets.

“There are risks everywhere whether it is criminal gangs, drug related or poverty related as in the case of the Somali pirates.  These risks have always to be weighed up against the business benefits and if a client wants a bespoke package we will prepare that.  We can present a risk assessment for them for anywhere in the world.

“However we cover local safety as well as security because some of the hotels, for example, might not have the same safety standards you would expect in Britain.

“There is no point in someone going to the Far East and following all the security measures so they are totally safe but then entering their hotel room without taking the proper precautions, flicking the light switch and being electrocuted.”