Key Travel Showcases Protection Package for Humanitarians
Published on 19 May 2011
Key Travel, a leading Travel Management Company (TMC) dedicated to working with non-profit organizations, announces the launch of its ‘Wellbeing Suite’. The service will provide Key Travel’s clients with a range of products including KT Welfare Card, KT Alert and KT Risk Manager, expanding its breadth of wellbeing services designed to assist clients who are exposed to increased levels of risk when travelling to remote parts of the world in their missionary, humanitarian and research efforts. Each product is designed to give employers, family members, and the travelers themselves peace of mind when it comes to their safety and wellbeing whilst on the ‘front-line’.
The number of fatalities amongst humanitarian workers has significantly increased over the past ten years and, as a result, has led to an urgent call to ensure the non-profit niche has practical procedures in place to protect its employees. This is particularly pertinent, as a recent survey by Key Travel found that 60% of humanitarian and missionary workers surveyed do not have an agreed method of ‘checking-in’ when they’re abroad, despite 26% experiencing a serious incident whilst on the ‘front-line’. Acting on this, Key Travel, which works with over 2,000 non-profit organizations including Oxfam, GAVI Campaign, Project Cure, International Medical Corps and Save the Children, is the first TMC to launch a product of this kind. With the use of innovative technology, it now offers clients a practical approach to track the welfare of employees by releasing the following products:
KT Welfare Card is a credit card sized personal medical information card, designed by doctors for doctors. The medical information stored can be updated anytime online and can be accessed in three formats: on the card, a mobile phone, or the web, giving peace of mind in countries that present language barriers.
KT Alert uses mobile technology to turn a travelers mobile device into an alerting system. Pre-selected speed dial numbers are used as triggers to inform selected contacts that the traveler is either ‘safe’ or needs ‘help’. KT Alert also houses timer functionality that automatically sends an alert if the user fails to remotely check-in by a pre-set time. This is useful for workers in difficult circumstances where they may be unable to send an alert manually.
KT Risk Manager provides organizations with accurate, up-to-date monitoring and alerts from across the globe. The product is designed for rapid reaction and automatically picks up employees travel itineraries through Key Travel’s booking system and monitors them alongside security and risk information. A threat level indicator is then fed to key contacts at the respective organization enabling them to make educated decisions on the authorization of travel and any precautionary planning required.
Steve Summers, CEO at Key Travel says: “Following years of constructive feedback from our clients we have developed and improved the services we offer. Our new products are a major step forward in tracking and supporting people in remote and sometimes hostile environments. I often refer to the Wellbeing Suite as ‘the protector of protectors’. It enables travelling humanitarian workers to carry out the work they are assigned to with peace of mind, supported by a suite of products that have been carefully designed to be both practical and user-friendly. Every employer has a legal obligation to maintain its duty of care to employees, and our Wellbeing Suite will provide the tools they need to do so.”