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In the new world of hybrid work and “bleisure” travel, businesses must be prepared to protect their people, writes Arnaud Vaissié.
The boundaries between our work, travel, and leisure time have been blurring for a generation. How do you protect your workforce when today, “the office” might be a coffee shop in suburban Sydney or an Airbnb anywhere from Beirut to Baltimore?
The roots of this loosening of the definition of what constitutes an office go back to the 1950s, when “open plan” office spaces emerged and staff began to talk about the office savannah. Today, due to technology, a real savannah might be the office.
Consequently, the days when duty of care was just about ergonomics, photocopier ventilation, and tripping hazards within four walls are long gone. With 1 million Australians now living and working abroad, and countless others embracing the “work-from-anywhere” lifestyle, the old parameters of workplace safety and risk management have been stretched across most of the 510 million square kilometres of the world’s surface.
At the same time, we have the rise of “bleisure” – the fusion of business and leisure travel – which has created a world in which an employee might transition from a Zoom meeting to zooming around on a moped, or from PowerPoint to a trek in a jungle reliant on compass point. This flexibility is celebrated as a triumph of modern work culture, but it carries hidden complexities that many Australian businesses haven’t yet fully grasped.
New risks take a myriad of forms – political and civil unrest, disease, natural disasters, unforeseen weather events, and risks from AI. The list grows by the day.
On the weather alone, businesses and organisations are literally exposed to the elements. At our Global Summit in Sydney this week, 87 per cent of attendees said that an extreme weather event or natural disaster had impacted their organisation this year.
Consider this: up to 1 million Australians travel internationally each month. Many of these travellers are no longer just holiday-makers or traditional business travellers – they’re our hybrid workforce, operating in environments where work and personal life intertwine.
The recent evacuation crises in countries as diverse as Lebanon and New Caledonia serve as a sobering reminder of what’s at stake. What began for many as a routine work trip or holiday quickly escalated into a complex civilian evacuation. The question isn’t whether your organisation will face such a crisis, but when and how prepared you’ll be when it happens.
Surprisingly, many Australian businesses, particularly in the technology sector, remain woefully underprepared for this new reality. Despite possessing significant resources, they often view crisis planning as an unnecessary expense, focusing instead on immediate returns rather than long-term resilience. This short-sightedness is particularly dangerous in an age where crises don’t politely wait their turn – they cascade and compound, from climate disasters to political unrest, from health emergencies to AI-driven threats.
The old mindset of “we’ve just had our once-in-100-years event” no longer holds water. Last week’s floods in southern Spain that transformed the region overnight to a crisis zone, demonstrate how quickly situations can deteriorate. Climate change alone is redrawing our maps of safe havens, and political instability can emerge with frightening speed, as evidenced by recent global events.
So, what must Australian business leaders do?
First, recognise that duty of care isn’t just a legal obligation or an insurance matter – it’s a fundamental human resource issue that requires a fundamental change in how we think about worker safety. Your employees’ workplace now extends to wherever they open their laptops or check their work email.
Second, invest in the best crisis management systems. This means real-time tracking capabilities (with appropriate privacy protections), immediate access to medical and security assistance, and comprehensive mental health support. The return on investment here isn’t just financial – though insurance companies often offer significant premium reductions for businesses with proper crisis management protocols – it’s about protecting your most valuable asset: your people.
Third, develop and regularly test crisis response plans. These shouldn’t be static documents gathering dust in a drawer but living protocols that evolve with new threats and challenges. Regular scenario planning and crisis simulations should become as routine as quarterly business reviews.
Finally, create a culture of preparedness. This means ensuring that employees understand both their freedoms and responsibilities when working remotely or combining business with leisure travel. Clear communication channels, regular safety briefings, and easily accessible emergency protocols should become standard operating procedure.
The stakes are too high for complacency. As we witness the continued evolution of work patterns and international mobility, Australian business leaders must step up to this new challenge. The organisations that will thrive in this new environment aren’t those with the most flexible work policies, but those who can guarantee their employees’ safety and wellbeing, regardless of where they choose to work. To put this in context, my organisation alone deals with over 9,000 calls for assistance every day.
The time for action is now. The next crisis won’t wait for us to be ready, and in this new world of hybrid work and bleisure travel, every Australian business leader must ask themselves: are we truly prepared to protect our people, wherever they may be?
Arnaud Vaissié is the chief executive of International SOS.
