When we travel abroad we are often putting our lives into the hands of people we do not know. Not having a clear understanding of the level of competency those in these types of jobs possess is a worrying prospect. In today's rather unsavoury climate the problem is exasperated and those in travel jobs hold even more responsibility than in the past.

We are bombarded with news stories of reporters who have been able to gain jobs in airports and flout security protocols. What is scary is that if they were not reporters in these jobs, terrorist attacks may well be more common.

That is not to say that there are queues of terrorists waiting to gain airport jobs in order to carry out atrocities. Add to this the dubious reliability of some of these rather over reactive pieces of reporting and the level of the problem becomes hard to quantify. Many in travel jobs have unrestricted access to such important pieces of equipment as planes and landing gear, subsequently the responsibility of interviewers is of paramount importance to ensure the safety of those who travel.

Those who do the hiring for travel jobs however are well aware of their responsibilities. Screening processes for jobs are thorough and becoming evermore thorough as time goes on. Background checks form a large constituent of this screening process but sadly only so much can be found out by looking at applicants previous jobs and known activities. If someone wants to hide certain activities from selectors the task would not be that hard.

It does however depend on how much the travel industry liaises with authorities when recruiting for jobs. Seemingly the resources of the authorities have enabled them to prevent some quite evil people from carrying out attacks. If the travel industry had access to this information the screening process could be far more thorough. Sadly data protection and human rights laws prevent such a system from coming into operation.

It is not however just those who are in the purely travel focussed jobs in airports that need to be vetted. With so many accompanying shops and eateries servicing the travel industry, vetting all who work in airports thoroughly is challenging to say the least. That is why at the moment the most laborious and time consuming screening processes are reserved for those who have wider access than those in simple shop jobs.

Those in airport jobs already have to carry photo identification with them at all times. With evermore sophisticated systems of fraud and forgery however these systems are rapidly becoming obsolete. Increasing airport security forces are recording the irises and fingerprints of those in full access jobs to ensure there is no chance that impostors will gain access to planes and other safety equipment.

The airport and more widely the travel industry has been at high alert for some time. Although almost seven years ago, the horrors of 9/11 are still fresh in people's minds and new plots are regularly being uncovered. It is a worrying trend that the travel industry would like us to forget about, unfortunately the majority of the public cannot and safety issues will be a concern for years to come.

We can only hope that those in these jobs that ensure our safety are aware of their responsibilities and painstaking in their duties. In the climate of fear we now live in, travel is one way in which we all try and escape.

Holidaymakers have the right to be relaxed on their vacations and it is those in travel industry jobs that must facilitate this relaxation. Whether this means serving a drink or ensuring a plane is safe to fly, all are important. If we wish to avoid the disasters that have happened in recent years, diligence at every turn is essential.