Safe and secure travel
How BHP Billiton is supporting its business travellers
As multinational companies continue to expand and diversify, employees undertake ever-increasing levels of business travel. Combined with shifting global markets and changing political situations, this has led to a greater need for an effective, flexible and responsive emergency management system. BHP Billiton has responded to this by establishing an Emergency Communications Centre (ECC) that sets new standards for the safety and security of personnel. The use of innovative technology allows costs to be contained by minimum manning, whilst maintaining a fully sustainable approach.
Any system is only as good as the competency of the people who implement it. Accordingly, Risktec has recently assisted BHP Billiton by establishing and delivering a comprehensive emergency response training programme for the London Emergency Management Team (EMT).
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
BHP Billiton’s London EMT is part of a global Crisis and Emergency Management (CEM) system, and is responsible for providing emergency response for incidents in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The focus of the EMT during a response is to manage strategic issues, in support of the local Incident Management Team (IMT) which handles the operational response to the incident.
Whenever an IMT is mobilised to respond to an incident, the London EMT duty leader is notified and activates the EMT if the incident is at, or has the potential to escalate to, a specific level of severity. In addition, the London EMT can be activated in support of BHP Billiton travellers involved in any incident where there is no IMT available and is always mobilised for certain ‘trigger’ events which automatically demand a high level response, e.g. hostage, kidnap, toxic/hazardous material release, major civil disturbance. Essential to the successful call-out of the EMT is the Emergency Communication Centre (ECC) which acts as the hub for the emergency response mobilisation process.
EMERGENCY TRAINING
Risktec has recently established and facilitated a training programme for members of the EMT. Purpose-built facilities in BHP Billiton’s London offices provide the EMT with state of the art technology and equipment for incident response. The training programme includes:
- in-depth familiarisation on the use of the facilities
- role-specific briefing packs for EMT members
- regular exercises to test the technology and procedures and provide realistic hands-on training for personnel.
SAFE TRAVEL
Business travellers are exposed to a wide variety of hazards, including road traffic accidents, air accidents, health/medical issues (sometimes requiring international evacuation), security incidents and natural disasters such as earthquakes. With this in mind, BHP Billiton has developed an intranet-based tool called the Safe Travel Management System (STMS) which is administered and managed by the ECC and allows BHP Billiton to verify the safety of staff at any time at any location world-wide.
STMS users confidentially store personal contact, medical and next of kin information, then enter details of each journey itinerary via an easy to use internet link. An Emergency Response Plan (ERP) for the trip is registered on STMS, including emergency contact details and any requirement for regular ‘check-in’ calls to the ECC to confirm the safety of the traveller.
With over seven hundred registered users, STMS sets industry best practice and has transformed BHP Billiton’s ability to manage the safety of travellers working in challenging environments.
This article first appeared in RISKworld Issue 8.
