Any company employing expats in 'dangerous' parts of the world better know how to get them home safely in an emergency. Rob Hyde reports on the essentials of any evacuation plan.

While companies have faced numerous cases regarding to safety of their product, many companies are becoming increasingly concerned with the safety of their workers.

This is especially so in the case of expatriate workers working in volatile locations who can accidentally become victims of internal political unrest and terrorist activity, or who can be directly targeted by illegal militias.

These organised groups have made big business over the last few years of kidnapping Western expatriate staff to extract money from their employers and family.

According to the London-based political think tank, the most risky areas for this include Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Venezuela, Ecuador, the former Soviet Union, Nigeria, India and South Africa.

Many HR companies of multinationals who send staff to such countries are now doing all they can to ensure that their workers can escape when trouble breaks out instead of being left in danger.

British national Lee Quane spent a year teaching in China and now works as a research analyst at international HR specialist, ECA International.

The company supplies over 4,000 HR professionals world wide with country briefing reports and other data used to develop expatriate policy.

Quane says that before an evacuation plan for expatriate staff can be drawn up, companies must have a full idea of the socio-political situation of the country in question.

"The political situation is especially important as things can get very tense in places like Columbia, especially around election times. But at the moment this is especially the case in Zimbabwe," he explains.

Quane says a potential danger to expatriates does not always come from political tension, but also from economic instability (such as in Argentina), or even the climate.

"Health risks to an expat are just as important - sometimes they may be exposed to severe levels of pollution. We take these factors into account then award each country with a mark based on the level of potential danger."

Steve Munns, who works as the business development officer at EuroCareer Consultants in the south-west of England, shares Quaines' views.

Though now working in consultancy, Munns spent 20 years working in the British Military Intelligence Core.

Amongst other activities that he is not allowed to discuss, Munns' was sent to the Gulf and Bosnia to conduct risk assessment and contingency plans to secure the evacuation of expatriates and diplomats.

According to Munns, while terrorism is a threat, other factors can prove just as perilous if one is not sufficiently prepared. He says HR could benefit from advice from military personnel or relevant government bodies.

"HR managers' who are new to all this will still do very well to remember three main points," says Munns. "Threat, resources, and rehearsal."

First, he says, assess the threat. "Is it internal or external? Is it political and terrorist-related, or is it even from a lack of infrastructure?"

Next, assess what resources are available to the expats and make no assumptions. "You can never just assume there will be a train to take them to the airport if all hell breaks loose," Munns explains. "You have to know it, and not only that, have a back up plan in case it falls through."

Finally, practice by doing a dry run. "The procedure should also be reviewed every six months if possible," he adds.

This insistence on attention to detail is shared by the international business risk consultancy, Control Risks. The company provides businesses in over 130 countries with reports, data and planning expertise to cope in complex or hostile environments.

Lars Preusser, senior crisis management consultant at the Berlin-based company says above all, HR managers need to be wary of seasoned expatriates who think their experience guarantees their safety worldwide.

"There is a certain arrogance that makes many expatriates vulnerable. Having survived hotspots in Malaysia for example, they then think they will just get by in Nigeria, and this assumption makes them vulnerable," Preusser says. "HR departments must ensure these workers have been probably briefed and better still, trained in local cultures and will not let the excitement of being in a completely new environment distract them from its existing, if hidden, dangers."

Preusser recommends that a company evacuation be divided into phases. "A company in a volatile area cannot leave too early or too late," he explains. "Leaving too early makes local businesses think it is not worth doing business with them if they will up and leave every time there is a demonstration outside their embassy. However, staying until bitter end is also not a good scenario."

According to Preusser, the evacuation plans should be divided into phases that are appropriate to the perceived threat. Each phase must include the appointment of a person to deal with each step of the procedure, so that all needs are accounted for.

"In the case of evacuation there has to be on person on the ground, managing the situation and telling people where to go, but above him there should be another overseeing the whole event, who can give immediate advice on sudden developments. Another person must be in charge of logistics, another for housing areas, and another for local business. Each activity needs a leader of some form which must be arranged, agreed and understood by all in advance."

For example, Anglian Water, part of the AWG group, which deals in utility services all over the world, operates an Incident Management Plan that applies this principle of assigning responsibility in accordance to rank.

Whilst the company ensures that many countries have access to high-quality water, accidents and emergencies can occur, such as the sudden wastewater overflow in Dublin last year.

International HR adviser Amanda Bridgers handles Anglian Water's Incident Management Plan. "This covers policies, standards and procedures for 'incident preparedness, incident management and incident recovery arising in any international activity', which includes evacuation procedures for expatriates," she says.

"Each management team has it's own responsibilities and training exercises are carried out on a regular basis to ensure that all teams are confident of their roles and responsibilities."

Bridgers says that when an incident occurs, it is reported back upwards. "On the lowest level, it is reported to the line manager. He or she will then assess whether a local incident management team is required, and if so, set up a local one via a 'call out' list - a list of key personnel on standby for emergencies," she explains.

"A business unit MD may call out a business support team is needed. In the case of an evacuation, however, the situation is referred right up to the executive director who will decide whether a major incident strategy team is and if required it be set up."

But for all thorough and admirable attempts by companies to devise procedures for emergencies, some feel that this should only take place under the eyes of experts.

Though he admits his company essentially sells the techniques of company evacuation plans as a product, Preusser says it could be dangerous for HR departments to attempt to manage what they don't really understand.

"You can learn the techniques and integrate it into procedure, expert just know things that others can't - like opting to use a satellite phone in a volatile country so that unwanted ears cannot listen into the network and overhear the evacuation procedure," he says.

Also, he points out, experts develop an acute sense of when danger is truly rising in a country rather than reacting to every little incident.

"I do believe that really an expert is needed to put it into practice. It's the little things one learns overtime that can prove crucial and save lives."

February 2002

UK-based freelance journalist Rob Hyde is a regular contributor to Expatica HR. A British national, Rob has lived and worked in England, France, Germany and Austria. His work has appeared in The Times, The Sunday Express and the Wall Street Journal Europe.