“Any security or crisis management plans you implement will not be worth the time and money you invest unless you train people in their respective roles within those contingencies.” So says Richard Culver, senior director of security services, for International SOS, EMEA and CIS region.

Given the recent trends in global terrorism and natural disasters, as evidenced recently in London, New Orleans and Pakistan, and the fact that business travel to high risk environments has become increasingly commonplace, it perhaps not surprising that security service providers have noticed an increase in demand for their expertise of late.

“Whether you believe the post-9/11 environment is more risky than in previous years is probably a moot point,” he said. “The key change has been that in the past there was a fairly passive and reactive approach to risk management, whereas now there is a much more proactive approach. Clients are much more aware of the risks and are attempting to deal with them up-front.

“I think we are in a phase globally where companies are tending to go a little further than they have in the past, in terms of entering higher risk markets to conduct business. Those two factors mean that the demand for security services, as a business enabler and function of business continuity, are increasing all the time.”

International SOS provides a range of security services, from pre-travel, on-line and on-call advice incorporating risk and threat information, to assisting clients in high risk environments and managing risk in-country through a suite of consulting services. In addition, the company offers training workshops focused on particular environments.

Culver says that such training must be properly focused and understood by each participant, to ensure that clients are fully prepared for any eventuality.

“A critical component is training the clients in each individual’s role within a particular plan, which can (and should) go as far out to include families if a firm has got expatriates based in high risk environments.”

International SOS gave EBAN its top three tips for travel in high risk environments.

“Understand the environment to which you’re travelling and the touch-points it will have on your staff and operations. You need to understand your own threat profile in that environment and need to establish risk management and contingency plans around that exposure to protect your staff and operations.

“Secondly, make sure your staff and travellers have a very clear understanding of their roles within these plans in order to react effectively and in accordance with the organisation’s intent. If they don’t understand these plans, then those plans lack validity and functionality.

“Thirdly, have a contingent resource you can call upon to project services into that environment in order to assist you should you require emergency support.”