Duty of Care in Workforce Travel: Keeping Your Crews Safe and Accountable

Citadel Drilling is a service-focused company that caters to clients’ needs. They currently have rigs operating in Texas and New Mexico and regularly rotate up to 35 rig technicians every 10 days from all across Canada to the airport in Midland, Texas, managing all travel there and back.

When Texas was plunged into a storm in February of 2021, this crisis wreaked havoc across the state. The frigid temperatures left highways impassable and citizens without power and water. The impact of this weather disaster was widely felt, with Citadel crews being no exception. Their travel plans were altered materially, but with Duty of Care in place, they had the solution ready at hand.

It is the legal and ethical responsibility of an employer to look after employees when traveling away from the office.

It means anticipating risks (weather disruptions, travel delays, health or safety incidents, logistics breakdowns) and putting in place a plan to respond - not react after the fact.

Duty of Care reduces the impact of emergencies, supports compliance (OHS, audit requirements), and boosts employee confidence that the employer values their safety.

Through these benefits, businesses not only protect their people; they also safeguard operations, mitigate legal or financial risk, and maintain reputation and continuity.

Most corporate travel tools focus on bookings: hotel rooms, flights, transportation, invoicing, cost control. That’s useful but incomplete.

A standard booking system can tell you where someone is supposed to stay, but not always whether they arrived safely, whether their flight was delayed, or whether they’re exposed to emerging local risks (weather events, regional disturbances, health alerts).

Without live monitoring, communication channels, or a centralized way to respond, companies remain blind during the moments when crew safety matters most.

That’s why Duty of Care must go beyond booking it needs to include visibility, alerting, communication, and response capacity.

LodgeLink isn’t just a corporate travel booking tool; it’s designed to be a partner in real-time safety and risk management for workforce travel. Some core features of our Duty of Care offering:

• Traveler tracking & GPS geolocation: Travel managers can locate where crew members are at any given moment (on the road, in airports, en route to remote sites).

• Up-to-date itinerary details & flight monitoring: So, you know if flights are disrupted before crews land.

• Travel alerts and risk advisories: This includes weather, security, health or regional risks, delivered to both travelers and arrangers.

• Emergency communication capabilities: The ability to send notices or alerts directly to travelers (via app, SMS, email) when incidents occur.

• Reporting and visibility for arrangers: Exportable location and travel data (by date, region, airline) to review travel patterns, respond to incidents, or support audits.

In short, LodgeLink enables you to track, communicate with, and support your crew in real time, wherever they are. That makes Duty of Care not a side-feature, but a core part of your travel management and risk mitigation strategy.

In all these scenarios, having a real-time Duty of Care system is the difference between a disrupted trip and a managed, supported outcome.

To embed Duty of Care effectively within workforce travel, here’s what you need to do:

1. Treat Duty of Care as integral to travel policy, not as an afterthought. That means investing in tools (like LodgeLink’s Duty of Care) that provide visibility and control.

2. Require traveler profile information up front, including emergency contacts, medical info, next-of-kin, and special needs. This ensures you’re prepared even before departure.

3. Use traveler tracking and alerts proactively, especially when sending crews into unfamiliar, remote, or risk-prone areas such as remote camps, international sites, or areas with volatile weather.

4. Establish communication protocols to ensure travelers and arrangers know what to do in emergencies: how to receive alerts, how to respond, who to contact.

5. Document and report post-trip, compile itineraries, incident reports, and lessons learned. This supports compliance (safety audits, insurance, regulatory obligations) and ongoing improvement.

In other words, Duty of Care should be part of how you plan, manage, and debrief every crew trip.

If you’re already a LodgeLink customer, adding Duty of Care turns your booking platform into a full safety and risk-management hub. Through the add-on service, you get live traveller tracking, real-time itinerary and flight monitoring, alerting & communication tools, geolocation tracking, and reporting/export capabilities.

For companies operating in energy, utilities, construction, transportation, or any industry where crews work in dynamic, often challenging environments, that kind of visibility, preparedness, and responsiveness is not optional. It’s a business imperative.

Crew travel isn’t business travel; it’s business travel multiplied by complexity, uncertainty, and risk. When people’s health, safety, and livelihoods are involved, “booking and hoping for the best” isn’t enough.

Duty of Care turns your travel program from reactive to proactive. It builds trust with your workforce, protects your brand and operations, and ultimately ensures that no matter where the job takes them, you still know where they are, and you can help if something goes wrong.

With LodgeLink’s Duty of Care tools, you don’t just move crews; you protect them.

1. What does “Duty of Care” mean for workforce travel?

Duty of Care refers to an employer’s legal and ethical responsibility to protect employees while they are travelling for work. This includes anticipating risks, monitoring safety conditions, communicating with travellers, and responding quickly when incidents occur.

2. Why is Duty of Care especially important for crew-based industries?

Unlike office travel, workforce travel often involves remote locations, harsh weather, rotating shifts, long road travel, or unfamiliar regions. These environments increase the likelihood of disruptions or emergencies - making real-time tracking and communication essential.

3. What tools does LodgeLink offer to support Duty of Care?

LodgeLink’s Duty of Care program includes:

• Live traveller tracking and GPS geolocation
• Up-to-date itinerary and flight monitoring
• Real-time risk alerts and advisories
• Emergency push communications
• Traveller profiles with critical info
• Reporting and exportable data

These tools help companies maintain visibility, accountability, and preparedness.

4. How does the traveller tracker map work?

Travel arrangers can view all active travellers on a real-time map, including upcoming arrivals, people in transit, and checked-in crew. During an emergency, this allows managers to quickly identify who is affected and take action (reroute, contact, support).

5. Does Duty of Care help during weather or regional emergencies?

Yes. The system delivers alerts for severe weather, flight disruptions, natural disasters, regional incidents, or safety concerns. It also enables fast communication to ensure all travellers receive timely instructions.

6. How are travellers notified if something goes wrong?

LodgeLink can push emergency notifications via mobile, email, or SMS. Employers can also send messages directly through the platform to provide check-ins, instructions, or updates.

7. How much does LodgeLink Duty of Care cost?

Duty of Care is offered as an add-on service. (Note: confirm the current annual fee — e.g., $300 — with your LodgeLink representative before publishing.)

8. Who is responsible for enrolling travellers?

Travel managers or company administrators typically enable Duty of Care at the account level. Traveller profiles are then added or synced, ensuring itinerary details are automatically tracked.

9. Is tracking always active?

Tracking is tied to the traveller’s itinerary and check-ins. The system shows where the traveller is supposed to be, plus real-time updates when they travel or arrive. GPS features may require app permissions if enabled.

10. How does Duty of Care support compliance or audits?

Exportable logs, itineraries, alerts, and traveller data help employers demonstrate compliance with safety regulations, internal policies, and industry standards, especially important for energy, utilities, construction, transportation, and remote field work.