Many business owners and their employees must spend a portion of the year travelling for work, whether to meet new clients, attend conferences, or perform contract jobs. It can be easy to feel less vigilant about security when deals take place far from the campus, but you may be liable if something happens to someone on your staff while they are away on a business trip.

Here are a few points to keep in mind when you or an employee have to leave town:

Get to know the area where you will be staying. You can do research by checking local blogs, getting statistics from crime watch websites, taking a look at recent news, etc. Make sure that the neighborhood of the hotel you choose is as safe as possible. It’s a good idea to find a hotel with restaurants in the building or next door, so that the need to walk the streets after dark is minimized.

Recommend strict limits on alcohol consumption for employees who are away. A few drinks at the networking mixer are one thing, but getting drunk will make your staff members vulnerable to criminals and con artists, who could even be after your company’s information.

Only use secure wifi networks on any device which contains corporate information. This should be a rule at all times, but there is much stronger temptation to break this rule on the road.

Watch your luggage carefully. Some thieves can smell a corporate employee a mile away, and they will be looking for an opportunity to get into your briefcase or computer bag.

If you must travel to volatile countries, where there are no truly safe hotels, hire an outside security firm to accompany your employees. It may seem expensive, but the risks are much more costly.