Employee safety when travelling: providing qualified and efficient information
Interview with Martin Stamm, Sales Director at A3M
Until the Corona pandemic, travel was part of everyday business life – and it is highly likely that it will be part of the agenda again after the Corona crisis – albeit in a different form: Because the safety of employees will play an even greater role in the future than it has in the past.
According to the BCI Emergency Communications Report 2021, more than half (60.1%) of the organisations surveyed employ staff who travel to high-risk countries. The pandemic has significantly increased this number compared to the previous year. Although European companies have a legal duty of care for those trips, the study’s findings also show that less than half of employers do so.
F24 offers its clients a solution through product integration with monitoring service provider A3M. FACT24 clients can add international crisis monitoring to their FACT24 integrated solution for crisis and incident management and emergency notification. The concrete added value this offers and why crisis monitoring should be part of the standard repertoire of every company today is clear from our following discussions with Martin Stamm, Sales Director at A3M.
Mr Stamm: What role does “international crisis monitoring” play for companies today?
Martin Stamm: “The majority of companies today operate internationally. Every day, countless security-relevant events take place around the world – from extreme weather situations to strikes and terrorist attacks. Add to this the challenge of a pandemic in 2020, and the question arises: How can companies know at any time which events are taking place in which locations that could have an impact on the safety of their employees? This is simply impossible without technical systems.
This is exactly where our service comes in: Our team of around 15 editors scans and verifies information sources worldwide, from news agencies and official authorities to social media channels. In this way, a reliable and qualified information base is available to companies 24/7. The events are individually categorised for the companies so that they can take action based on this information.“
What added value does the cooperation between F24 and A3M offer companies?
Martin Stamm: “Today, companies ideally have an eye on possible security risks for their employees. This also includes monitoring external events. And in an emergency, every second counts. If companies learn about potential risks more quickly, they can warn their employees earlier and initiate countermeasures. This also makes it easier to comply with the legally prescribed duty of care towards your own employees.
A3M monitoring and efficient alerting via FACT24 ensure that crises can be identified more quickly and responded to immediately. The interaction increases the speed of response even further.”
What does this “interaction” look like in concrete terms when an emergency situation arises?
Martin Stamm: “By integrating the two systems, FACT24 clients can include A3M’s international crisis monitoring directly in the alerting process. If there is an event in a defined region that the company classifies as security-relevant, the alert can be automated without anyone having to read the monitoring message or trigger the alert manually.
Of course, the customer can decide for himself how the alarm is designed. That is, whether all employees should be alerted directly or possibly only representatives of the crisis management team. A3M Global Monitoring connects directly to FACT24 in crisis management (see also graphic).”
In this way, a reliable and qualified information base is available to companies 24/7.
Martin Stamm, Sales Director at A3M
What’s next? What else can clients expect from A3M and F24 in the future?
Martin Stamm: “We always aim to make things as easy as possible for our customers. In this case, we have reached an important milestone in that international crisis monitoring is now fully integrated into the FACT24 interface and clients only need one application to manage everything. Further steps are conceivable. A3M additionally offers travel assistance services in the field of medicine and safety for F24 clients.
After all, employees are a company’s most important asset and employers can position themselves by being committed to their own employees – even beyond the duty of care.”
Thank you very much for the talk!