The International SOS Foundation announced the recipients of its 2019 Duty of Care Awards -- companies and individuals who have made a significant contribution to protecting their people while traveling or working remotely.

Judges reviewed entries representing 28 sectors across 31 countries.

Winners, by category, include:

Belt & Road Initiative Winner: Envision Energy (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.

Honorable Mentions: PepsiCo, Stora Enso Consumer Board China, Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd. Overseas Business Department

Special Mentions:  Standard Chartered Bank, Corning Incorporated

Communications Winner: Cargill

Cargill deployed the Safe Travel Program in 2018 to educate the company’s 23,000 employees who travel for business on risks and the importance of planning ahead and making good choices. The program defined safe travel expectations as part of the company’s Travel and Entertainment policy, mandated an interactive education program, and created an intranet webpage to be a “single source of truth” for travel safety resources and guidance. Cargill’s newly formed Safe Travel Working Group meets regularly to oversee communication initiatives, monitor incidents and compliance, and challenge the company to stay cutting edge with best practices.

Runner Up: Virgin Atlantic

Honorable Mentions: Wilhelmsen Ships Service (S) Pte. Ltd., Education New Zealand, Lawyers Without Borders

Special Mention: ABB

Education Winner: International School Bangkok

Honorable Mentions: Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, Tanglin Trust School

Innovation Winner: ANZ Banking Group Limited

In a first for the Australian banking sector, the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) established a tripartite relationship with International SOS and FCM Travel Solutions to advocate and enhance the Duty of Care for business travelers. The 'Odyssey Alliance' was built on a shared vision to improve the safety and well-being of travelers through robust governance and oversight, improved data integrity across independent and interdependent value chains, strategic think tanks on mutual issues, education, training and collaborative auditing. The Alliance is creating a safer and secure workplace, supporting overall organizational resilience and delivering measurable results.

Runner Up: Biogen

Honorable Mentions: Syrah Resources Limited, DHL Express India Pvt. Ltd., CICC

Remote Resilience Winner: Aditya Birla Group

Honorable Mentions: Stora Enso Consumer Board China, Fadhili Plant Cogeneration Company

Sustainability Winner: Siemens China

The aim of Zero Harm Culture at Siemens, a company-wide, global program, is to raise the awareness of occupational health and safety and to sustain the continuous improvement on health conscious and safe behavior. Their safety programs are not limited to purely technical protective measures but also focuses strongly on building an active occupational safety culture. It ensures a healthier and safer workplace which is evident through a sustainable reduction of accident frequency rate in China.

Honorable Mentions: Applied Materials, KPMG, GlaxoSmithKline (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.

Special Mention: Maybank

Ambassador of Duty of Care (individual) Winner: Hanna Pincus, Operations Lead, at IDEO.org

Over the last two years, Hanna Pincus has transformed IDEO.org’s Safety and Security policies and systems. By adopting the lens of Human Centred Design (HCD) supported by milestones such as research, quick prototyping, testing ideas and constantly iterating and improving, she has increased transparency and interest around security, and more proactive measures taken at all levels. Leadership is actively involved in discussing security with their employees and with partners, and more than ever, people feel they have easy access and are able to serve themselves when they have questions around security, leading to a much more confident, informed and safe organisation. Due to Hanna’s resilience and by putting people at the heart of the solutions, security has become a core value, not an afterthought, at IDEO.org

Runner Up: Jiang Ting - Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd

Honorable Mention: Daniel Weitemeyer - R+V Allgemeine Versicherung AG

The judging panel included:

• Franck Baron, Chairman, PARIMA (Pan Asia Risk & Insurance Management Association)
• Dr. Walter Eichendorf, President, German Road Safety Council – DVR
• Dr. Vincent Ho, President, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH)
• Tim Janes, Chairman, Business Continuity Institute (BCI)
• Greeley Koch, Vice President, HRS and previous Executive Director of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE)
• James McAlpine, Senior Partner for Markets and Partnerships, Control Risks
• Kevin Myers, President, IALI (International Association of Labour Inspection) and Convener of the Travel Risk Management ISO Standard
• Liu Peng, Deputy Director-Genera, China Enterprise Association and Executive Director, UNGC Network China
• Wendy Stachowiak, Co-Chair, Global Risk Committee by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
• Dr. Xiaoguang Wang, Director, Beijing Rongzhi Corporate Social Responsibility Institute
• Dr. Changhui Zhao, Chief Country Risk Analyst, China Eximbank