What Keeps Safety Directors Up at Night: Conversations with Industry Leaders on Managing Global Workforce Risk

Protecting people across multiple countries, time zones, and risk environments is no small feat. It’s the kind of responsibility that has safety directors staring at the ceiling at 3 AM, wondering if they’ve covered all the bases.

We’ve spent the last month chatting with safety leaders from different industries over virtual coffees, lunch breaks, and sometimes late-evening calls. What struck us most wasn’t just the technical challenges they face but the genuine concern they have for the people they’re responsible for protecting.

These weren’t formal interviews – just honest conversations about what it really means to safeguard a global workforce in today’s unpredictable world. Here’s what we learned from these candid discussions with the people bearing the weight of keeping everyone safe.

The Visibility Gap: “I Can’t Protect What I Can’t See”

James, Safety Director for a multinational engineering firm with operations in 32 countries, shared his primary concern over a virtual coffee:

“What truly keeps me up at night? Not knowing where our people are when incidents occur. During the earthquake in Turkey last year, we spent the first crucial 48 hours simply trying to determine which of our employees might be affected. By the time we identified everyone, valuable response time had already been lost.”

This sentiment was echoed by Sarah, Head of Global Security for a UK-based pharmaceutical company:

“The hardest part of my job isn’t responding to emergencies – it’s maintaining real-time awareness of our mobile workforce. With researchers in remote locations and sales teams constantly travelling, our previous system gave us data that was often hours or days old. In security terms, that’s practically useless.”

Communication Breakdowns: When Minutes Matter Most

For many safety directors, the ability to communicate during critical events represents their most significant concern.

Dr. Anita, who oversees safety for a humanitarian organisation operating in conflict zones, shared:

“Standard communication channels are often the first thing to fail during a crisis. When that happens, our duty of care obligations don’t simply disappear. We experienced this firsthand during civil unrest in Ethiopia – our team on the ground couldn’t access mobile networks, and our London headquarters had no way to provide guidance or coordinate evacuation.”

Similarly, Richard, Security Operations Manager for a global consulting firm, recounted:

“After the Brussels airport bombing, we had consultants scattered across the city. Our mass notification system sent alerts, but we had no way to verify if people received them or to collect responses from those who needed assistance. It was a textbook example of one-way communication failing when two-way communication was desperately needed.”

The Compliance Conundrum: Balancing Legal Requirements With Practical Solutions

Legal compliance emerged as a significant source of anxiety across all our conversations. Safety directors find themselves caught between increasingly stringent regulatory requirements and the practical challenges of implementation.

Helen, Director of Risk Management for a retail chain with 15,000 employees across Europe, expressed her frustration:

“Health and safety regulations keep getting more complex, especially when you operate across multiple jurisdictions. We’re supposed to demonstrate our duty of care with comprehensive documentation, but most systems make this an administrative nightmare. I spend more time proving compliance than actually improving safety.”

For Thomas, QHSE Director at a German manufacturing company, the challenge extends beyond documentation:

“The legal expectations are clear – we must assess risks, inform employees, and take reasonable precautions. But the technology we’ve used makes this fragmented. We have one system for travel risk assessments, another for incident reporting, and yet another for our safety policies. Nothing talks to each other, which creates dangerous gaps.”

The Data Puzzle: Turning Information Into Action

Perhaps surprisingly, many safety directors confided that one of their most significant challenges isn’t a lack of information – it’s making sense of the overwhelming amount of data available.

Marcus, Chief Risk Officer for an international financial services firm, explained:

“We subscribe to multiple risk intelligence feeds, have access to travel security databases, and receive regular government advisories. But synthesising all this information into actionable guidance for our travellers? That’s where we struggle. By the time we’ve assessed all the inputs, the situation has often already evolved.”

Lisa, Global Security Director for a technology company, added:

“The problem isn’t just volume – it’s relevance. Not every worldwide alert applies to our people, but determining which ones matter requires constant attention. During the pandemic, this became almost impossible to manage manually with constantly changing restrictions and requirements.”

Beyond Technology: The Human Element of Global Safety

Throughout our conversations, one theme consistently emerged: the most effective safety programmes balance technological solutions with human understanding and compassion.

David, Safety and Security Manager for an international education provider, reflected:

“Technology is essential, but it’s not sufficient. Our duty of care isn’t just a legal obligation – it’s a moral commitment to our people. The systems we use need to reflect that by treating employees as humans, not just dots on a map.”

Victoria, Head of People Risk for a major logistics company, concurred:

“The best safety technology amplifies human judgment rather than replacing it. Our previous system generated so many false alarms that people started ignoring alerts altogether. What we needed was a platform that helped our team make better decisions, not one that overwhelmed them with notifications.”

A Holistic Approach to Global Workforce Safety

These conversations reveal that safety directors aren’t just looking for more features – they’re seeking holistic solutions that address the interconnected challenges of modern workforce protection. From visibility and communication to compliance and intelligence, effective global safety management requires an integrated approach.

As business travel continues, organisations face both familiar and new challenges in fulfilling their duty of care obligations. The safety directors we spoke with emphasised that protecting a global workforce isn’t simply about deploying technology – it’s about creating a comprehensive ecosystem where people, processes, and technology work together seamlessly.

Locate Global was designed with these exact challenges in mind. By combining real-time location intelligence, multi-channel communication, automated compliance documentation, and contextual risk analysis in a single platform, we address the complex realities that keep safety directors awake at night. To learn more about how Locate Global can transform your approach to global workforce safety, contact our team for a personalised demonstration today.

This blog post was based on conversations with safety and security professionals across multiple industries. Names and specific details have been changed to protect confidentiality, but the challenges and insights remain authentic.