Risk Management

Managing the Risks of Travel for Groups

Continuous successful control and minimization of potential school trip hazards and risks require ongoing management commitment. While the core focus is field trips, the core processes apply to all travel beyond the school or institutional grounds.

Our experience at EBI Educational Group Inc has taught us that without the ongoing commitment of management to risk mitigation, the introduction of control procedures might be successfully implemented initially, but they are not likely to last long.

From the principal to the department head, the school management must be committed to safeguarding all participants, (students, teachers and volunteers) who travel, and are involved in, the school’s learning experience.

The Necessary Steps of Risk Management

The core elements of this approach to risk mitigation include the following:

1. Acknowledging and recognizing there are always potential risks;
2. Allocating adequate resources (financial, human, time resources) to minimize potential risks;
3. Identifying a representative who holds responsibility for the supervision of the risk mitigation strategy;
4. Undertaking a comprehensive risks versus benefits analysis for any given field trip;
5. Involving parents and students in the concerns and arrangements made to mitigate risks;
6. Requiring external resources/suppliers to provide a high level of care on risk mitigation through the contractual obligations.

What Can EBI Group Do For You

EBI’s focus is on risk management for the schools and youth travel market. While many schools and many fewer travel agencies have programs and policies to deal with risk, our research shows they are not comprehensive or complete. EBI Group offers this market its first comprehensive and layered approach to risk management for your young people and student groups who are travelling abroad and whose parents fret about their security and safety. Our products, including tools such as near accidents analysis, help mitigate the risk of travel by looking at the totality of the risk and offering countervailing actions.

EBI Group Experience

Roger Charles, Joel Marier and Iddan Kroll were completely involved in the conceptualization, design and development of a global quality control system for the HI Hostel network, the largest budget accommodation provider in the world. At the heart of the quality control system was safety and security, partly defined by the requirements of the European Union. Using this as a framework, the three principals have built a quality assurance system which meets the requirements of the Israeli, Canadian and English school systems.