Large companies are constantly moving people around the globe as expats, sales representatives, service personnel and conference speakers, whilst top executives also fly out to explore potential mergers, acquisitions and JVs. Yet the world is a dangerous place and all too often those asked to go on such assignments are poorly briefed about the risks involved and how to avoid them.
The lifetime risk of dying in a traffic accident for the population as a whole is one in 80 in the USA and one in 127 in the European Union.. By far the highest risk is in a motor accident. In fact the lifetime risk for scheduled passenger air travel is one in 55,078 in the USA and one in 44,135 in the European Union. Of course the risks are even higher for regular business travellers, especially if they are under pressure from deadlines or use private planes or small “third world” airlines.
We are reminded each time we travel by air about the risks of terrorist incidents, but according to US data issued by the Centre for Research on Globalisation we are 35,079 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack. For Americans at least between 2006 and 2011 a citizen was four times more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by a terrorist.
The precise risks of kidnapping, hostage taking, piracy and extortion are undoubtedly much greater for professionals and executives travelling to certain countries of the world. In fact, in Nigeria and Venezuela there are over 1,000 kidnappings for ransom each year and in Pakistan and Mexico probably in excess of 2,000 per year. Other countries that pose significant risks are Afghanistan, Columbia, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia and Yemen.
Finally, of course, there is the risk of natural disasters that can strike even in relatively safe human environments. According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction there have been 8,835 major disasters giving rise to 1.94 million deaths reported globally as a result of natural hazards such as droughts, extreme temperatures, floods, tropical cyclones and related health epidemics during 1970-2012. This amounts to an average of 46,190 fataiities a year – with probably five times that number being seriously injured. This may be a drop in the ocean compared with a world population of over 7bn, but it is a far more significant proportion of the populations that lie in earthquake zones and the paths of hurricanes.