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Pre-travel trip advice Pre-travel trip advice

A few weeks of holiday every year are invaluable, giving employees a break to relax, recharge their batteries and return to work refreshed. However, that well earned break can all too often provide its own stresses and strains.

 

The flip-side of a relaxing holiday is anxiety, late and harassed departures, exhausting journeys, illness and frayed tempers. This doesn’t just start at the airport, the pressures can slowly creep up on employees weeks, if not months before.1 With a little planning and organisation beforehand, employees could have an easier ride, something that could impact positively on their productivity in the build-up to their holiday.2

A sense of adventure

The annual growth in budget air travel and the availability of cheaper deals means Britons are increasingly travelling to more exotic and remote locations to experience a sense of adventure. Some people will be concerned about health issues associated with travel. It’s well worth spending extra time researching destinations and weighing up the risks before booking (and paying for) each trip.

 

Taking leave

Preparing for any absence from work in the holiday season could mean lots of extra work.
The extra pressures associated with taking annual leave could mean that employees are even more tired by the time their holiday actually arrives. A recent survey has shown that taking a holiday can increase stress for employees. 51 percent of respondents said they worked extra hours in the run-up to taking leave and, among owner managers, one in seven claimed to work an extra 16 hours (about two working days) just before a holiday.1

Holiday cover

Workers are often put under pressure to meet a deadline or finish a project before going on holiday. Such requests or demands should be assessed in a realistic way. If fellow colleagues and line managers understand what needs to be done while people are away, employees can feel more relaxed and more able to let go of their work - leaving both mind and conscience clear, ready for that well-deserved holiday.

 

Business travel

Holidays tend to be all about fun, relaxation, action or adventure, whereas for business travel, priorities are different. Being a part of the twenty first century lifestyle, business travel should still be comfortable and pleasant. Illness can affect business travellers, especially when travelling to tropical destinations so, again, employees should seek medical advice in advance of travelling abroad.3 Not all health incidents are disease related – there is the matter of preventing accidents, issues of personal safety and dealing with travel stress too.

Rising risks

Travel to exotic destinations is becoming increasingly popular, including areas where malaria is found, such as Africa and South East Asia. The Health Protection Agency reported that in 2008, 1370 people from the UK became infected with malaria while abroad.5 The key to helping reduce the risk of malaria is to prevent mosquito bites. There are a number of anti-malarial medicines that can be taken before travelling. Although none are 100 percent effective, if taken as prescribed in combination with mosquito bite prevention, the risk of malaria can be greatly reduced.

Health checklist

Injury and illness could easily spoil a trip abroad; be it severe sunburn, travellers’ diarrhoea or, worse still, hospitalisation for emergency treatment. To aim to ensure you and your employees stay safe and well, the Travel Health Foreign & Commonwealth Office recommends the following well in advance of the departure date:4 

  • buy adequate and appropriate travel insurance
  • check www.dh.gov.uk/travellers for general medical advice
  • seek medical advice at least six weeks prior to travel to discuss vaccinations
  • find country-specific advice, which is available online at the National Travel Health Network and Centre - www.nathnac.org
  • check if medication is legal in the country you are visiting – especially if these are controlled drugs, such as morphine, you may need a prescription and a letter from your GP. The British Embassy can advise you
  • if employees have a particular condition that may require medical intervention abroad (such as severe heart disease or pregnancy), it would be sensible to carry a GP letter giving a summary and details of any treatment or current medication

You can find more information about travel health at www.bupa.co.uk/health

Next steps

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    Sources

    1 Holidays drive up employee stress. Investors in People, 16 July 2007. www.investorsinpeople.co.uk, date accessed 29 April 2008.
    2 Preparing for a business trip overseas. TravelHealth, www.travelhealth.co.uk, date accessed 17 March 2008.
    3 Health and Business Travel. TravelHealth, www.travelhealth.co.uk, date accessed, 17 March 2008.
    4 Travel Health, Travel Health Foreign & Commonwealth office. www.fco.gov.uk, date accessed, 17 March 2008.
    5 Imported malaria cases and deaths, United Kingdom: 1989 - 2008, Health Protection Agency. www.hpa.org.uk, accessed 29 May 2009.