By Mavis Toh

When sales manager Raymond Foo was given a day's notice of a work trip to New Delhi two months ago, he packed his bags, kissed his two children goodbye and left.

His employer, a local company in the education industry, made arrangements for accommodation but did not provide him with any travel advisory or numbers to call should an emergency crop up.

Similarly, on each of his twice-monthly work trips now, he leaves Singapore armed with nothing more than his own vigilance.

'I think we tend to take our safety for granted,' said Mr Foo, 32. 'I'm definitely not prepared should an emergency happen.'

But emergencies do happen.

When terrorists staged attacks in Mumbai recently, more than a dozen Singaporeans - many on business trips - were stranded in several hotels.

Lawyer Lo Hwei Yen was taken hostage in the Oberoi Trident Hotel and eventually killed.

Standard Chartered Bank employee Carol Tan made it out alive. She was staying in the Taj Mahal Hotel and it was the bank's security personnel who first called to tell her that the hotel was under attack.

They kept her updated on developments while she was trapped in her room. She was eventually ushered out by security officers who knocked on her door the next afternoon.

Ms Lo's death puts into sharp focus the fact that Singaporeans are not immune from dangerous situations abroad.

And the number of Singaporeans overseas is no small figure. Last year, at the Economic Development Board's 9th International Advisory Council meeting, it was revealed that 200,000 or more Singaporeans are working, studying or travelling abroad at any one time.

Which is why Ms Annie Yap, chief executive of recruitment agency The GMP Group, said Singaporeans' security and protection should be stepped up as more of them are sent overseas for work.

Companies should conduct risk assessments of the country, finding out about its economic, social, political and medical landscape, before determining the insurance coverage needed, she added.

But it is not enough just to provide basic insurance coverage.

'As recent events have shown, acts of violence and unrest can strike anywhere and at any time,' she said.

Staff should know how to react in a crisis and be provided with local emergency numbers and contacts.

Most multinational companies The Sunday Times spoke to said they send out regular travel advisories and buy travel insurance for staff on business travel.

At OCBC Bank, an online health and security site was launched five months ago to update staff on threats such as disease outbreaks, riots, terrorist activities and natural disasters.

SingTel employees posted overseas must register themselves and family members with the foreign affairs ministry in the host country. They also hold open air tickets as part of evacuation procedures in an emergency.

At SembCorp, where five to 10 employees travel overseas monthly, each has insurance coverage of up to 60 times the monthly salary. They are also given numbers to call if security or medical evacuation is needed.

Two years ago, an employee stationed in Vietnam was evacuated to Singapore by plane within hours after he had a heart problem.

In view of recent events in Bangkok - where anti-government protesters occupied the airports - and Mumbai, the company has also suspended all business travel to Thailand and India.

But despite assurances by these companies that staff-welfare measures are in place, only three of the 10 frequent business travellers The Sunday Times spoke to said they are given emergency numbers and briefings each time they head overseas.

They added that their firms know little about their schedules apart from the hotels they are staying in.