Most duty of care travel policies are written once and filed away. That is how organizations end up with a 2019 template covering a 2026 threat landscape. This template is designed to be a living document — updated with real-time intelligence and aligned with ISO 31030 requirements.
Whether you are an NGO deploying field staff to the Sahel, a mining company rotating engineers through Central Africa, or an oil and gas operator managing logistics across the Caucasus, the obligations are the same: identify risks before travel, monitor threats during travel, respond to incidents immediately, and document everything for compliance.
This page provides a complete, printable checklist covering every phase of the travel risk lifecycle. Each section maps directly to ISO 31030 clauses so your policy is audit-ready from day one.
Why Your Organization Needs a Travel Risk Policy
A documented travel risk policy is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is the single document that determines whether your organization is protected or exposed when something goes wrong in the field.
- Legal liability: The UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the US OSHA General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)), and EU Framework Directive 89/391 all impose obligations on employers to protect staff from foreseeable harm. Business travel to high-risk regions is squarely within scope. Courts ask one question: did the organization take reasonable steps? A documented policy is the answer.
- Insurance: Many corporate travel insurance policies and kidnap-and-ransom policies require documented risk management procedures as a condition of coverage. Without them, claims can be denied. Your insurer wants to see that you assessed the risk before you sent someone into it.
- Operational: People make better decisions when protocols exist before a crisis. A security manager who already knows the evacuation route, the medical provider, and the escalation chain responds in minutes. One who has to figure it out in real time responds in hours — if they respond at all.
- Reputational: A duty of care failure becomes a headline. The organization that cannot explain why an employee was sent to an active conflict zone without a security briefing faces public scrutiny, donor withdrawal, and talent attrition that outlasts the legal proceedings.
Key Statistic
According to International SOS, 69% of organizations experienced a security or health incident affecting a traveling employee in the past year. Of those, fewer than half had a documented travel risk policy that was reviewed within the previous 12 months.
Complete Duty of Care Travel Policy Checklist
Use the following five sections as the foundation of your travel risk policy. Each item is designed to be actionable — print this page, check the boxes, and identify where your current policy has gaps.
Section 1: Pre-Travel Risk Assessment
- Destination risk rating reviewed (country + city/region level)
- Travel advisory status checked (State Dept, FCDO, local sources)
- Current security conditions verified within 48 hours of departure
- Medical requirements identified (vaccinations, medications, facilities)
- Travel insurance confirmed (medical evacuation, repatriation coverage)
- Emergency contacts registered with security operations center
- Communication plan established (check-in schedule, emergency channels)
- Cultural and legal briefing completed (local laws, customs, dress codes)
Section 2: Traveler Preparation
- Security briefing delivered (threat landscape, areas to avoid, emergency procedures)
- Emergency contact card issued (local embassy, nearest hospital, company SOC)
- Communication devices tested (satellite phone for remote areas, VPN for restricted internet)
- Document copies secured (passport, visa, insurance — digital and physical)
- Accommodation vetted for security (ground floor avoidance, fire exits, safe area)
- Transportation plan confirmed (vetted drivers, approved routes, airport transfers)
- Cash and payment methods diversified (local currency, backup cards)
- Personal safety kit issued (first aid, flashlight, water purification if needed)
Section 3: Real-Time Monitoring During Travel
- Traveler tracking system active (GPS check-in, travel management platform)
- Daily intelligence briefing delivered to traveler
- Local-language media monitoring active for destination
- Weather and natural disaster alerts configured
- Political and civil unrest monitoring active
- Check-in protocol enforced (missed check-in triggers escalation)
- Alternate evacuation routes identified and communicated
Section 4: Emergency Response Protocol
- Incident response team identified with 24/7 contact
- Medical evacuation provider confirmed (International SOS, Global Rescue, or equivalent)
- Nearest embassy/consulate contact pre-loaded in traveler's phone
- Crisis communication template prepared (internal and external)
- Family notification protocol documented
- Alternate extraction routes pre-planned for high-risk destinations
- Legal counsel identified for destination country
Section 5: Post-Travel and Compliance
- Incident debrief completed (even for uneventful travel — confirms protocols work)
- Intelligence feedback loop (traveler observations fed back to security team)
- Policy effectiveness review (did the plan match reality?)
- Documentation archived for compliance audit trail
- Insurance claims filed if applicable
- Lessons learned documented and shared
ISO 31030 Alignment Matrix
The checklist above maps directly to ISO 31030:2021 requirements. Use this matrix to demonstrate compliance during audits or insurance reviews.
| Checklist Section | ISO 31030 Clause | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-Travel Risk Assessment | 6.2, 6.3 | Threat identification and risk evaluation |
| Traveler Preparation | 7.1, 7.2 | Competence and awareness |
| Real-Time Monitoring | 8.1, 8.2 | Operational planning and control |
| Emergency Response | 8.3 | Emergency preparedness and response |
| Post-Travel Compliance | 9.1, 10.1 | Performance evaluation and improvement |
Risk Rating Framework
Every destination should be assigned a risk level before travel is approved. This framework standardizes the assessment and defines the minimum required actions at each level.
| Risk Level | Description | Required Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Low (Level 1) | Standard precautions. Tourism infrastructure reliable. | Basic travel briefing, standard insurance |
| Moderate (Level 2) | Elevated awareness needed. Some areas to avoid. | Enhanced briefing, daily check-in, regional intelligence |
| High (Level 3) | Significant security concerns. Operations require planning. | Security escort assessment, evacuation plan, 24/7 monitoring |
| Critical (Level 4) | Active conflict or collapsed security. Travel only if essential. | Armed escort, hardened accommodation, dedicated SOC, medical evacuation on standby |
Why City-Level Matters
A country-level risk rating of "Moderate" can mask a city-level reality of "Critical." Cameroon is rated Moderate overall, but the Far North region bordering Nigeria has active Boko Haram operations. Georgia is rated Low, but Tbilisi protest zones during political crises are High. Always assess at the city and region level, not just the country level.
Common Mistakes in Travel Risk Policies
After reviewing dozens of travel risk policies across NGOs, mining companies, and logistics firms, these are the six most common failures:
- Country-level assessments instead of city/region-level. A country rating of "Moderate" tells you nothing about the checkpoint outside Buea or the protest corridor in Tbilisi. Risk assessments must go sub-national.
- Annual reviews instead of continuous intelligence updates. Threat landscapes change weekly. A policy reviewed once a year is outdated the day after it is approved. Continuous monitoring is the only way to keep assessments current.
- No traveler tracking system. If a crisis unfolds and you cannot locate your people within 30 minutes, your emergency response protocol is theoretical. GPS check-in, travel management platforms, or even a simple WhatsApp check-in schedule are minimum requirements.
- Insurance without medical evacuation coverage. Standard corporate travel insurance often excludes high-risk regions or caps medical evacuation at amounts that would not cover a helicopter extraction from a remote site. Verify evacuation and repatriation coverage specifically.
- Emergency plans that assume working phone and internet. In a crisis, cell towers go down, governments cut internet access, and power grids fail. Your emergency plan needs to account for satellite communication, pre-arranged physical rally points, and offline contact protocols.
- No post-travel debrief process. Every trip — including uneventful ones — generates intelligence. What the traveler observed on the ground, which routes were blocked, which contacts were reliable, how the security situation compared to the pre-travel briefing. Organizations that skip debriefs lose this intelligence permanently.
Intelligence Is the Foundation
A travel risk policy is only as good as the intelligence feeding it. Static policies based on annual reports miss emerging threats. Region Alert delivers daily intelligence updates sourced from local-language media in 100+ languages to keep your risk assessments current. Country-level advisories tell you what happened last quarter. Local-language monitoring tells you what is happening right now.
Automate Your Duty of Care Intelligence
Region Alert feeds real-time local-language intelligence directly to your security operations team. Daily reports, instant alerts, and country-specific briefings — so your travel risk policy stays current without manual research.
Start Risk-FreeRelated Resources
- Duty of Care for NGOs: Legal Requirements & Implementation Guide
- Duty of Care Compliance Software: Beyond HIPAA to Physical Security
- ISO 31030 Compliance Guide: Travel Risk Management Standard
- Travel Risk Management: The Complete Guide for Field Operations
- Travel Risk Management Companies Compared (2026)