The Shell Frequent Business Traveler Program: A Risk-Based Approach

Abstract

Abstract Business travel is an essential and growing element of the oil and gas industry as a whole. It is associated with many hazards of a various nature and management of these hazards is often characterized by a lack of standardization. Hence, this paper describes our effort to address this issue in a global and standardized way. This process required the development of a precise definition for a frequent business traveller, development of training material, a risk based screening method and a web application tool. Furthermore, logistical and data privacy issues needed to be addressed. Ultimately, we believe we have managed to successfully meet the objectives of the program according to the 4-S scheme (Standardize, Simplify, Share, and Speed-up) for achieving business success. Technical upgrades and exploration of the database information should further enhance the value of this program in the future. Introduction Despite advances in communication technologies and increased pressure to control travel budgets, international business travel continues to grow significantly. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently released passenger and freight traffic forecasts projecting that in 2011 the air transport industry will handle 2.75 billion passengers (620 million more passengers than in 2006) which corresponds to an annual average growth rate of 5.1%. The strongest international passenger demand growth is forecast for the Middle East, Asia and Africa.1 Oil and gas exploration spans the globe and often mandates travel to remote areas, making the growth in business travel an issue of particular importance to this industry. Frequent business travel can be associated with multiple health, safety and security hazards. The health hazards may be of a biological, psychological, physical, chemical and/or ergonomic nature.2–4 Following several serious health incidents in our business traveller population in recent years, it was decided to comprehensively address the health and safety hazards faced by business travellers. The benefits of developing a standard approach for business travel is even more compelling in view of the variety of potential hazards, in comparison to other job tasks associated with one or only a few hazards. Hence, the goal was to develop a standardized tool, which also met all criteria of the so-called 4-S scheme (Standardize, Simplify, Share, and Speed-up) for achieving business success. In this paper, we will describe the design and implementation of the Frequent Business Traveller (FBT) application, rolled out globally within Shell companies in 2006 and 2007. We will include discussion of the process rollout, data privacy and security measures, and travel focal point training, as well as the resulting challenges encountered.