You should probably be sitting down when you read this one:Business travelers often drinkquite a bit while out of town and even engage inclandestine liaisons, sometimes with perfect (or imperfect)strangers.

Yes, this is what an online survey hosted by On CallInternational, a travel risk management firm, pumped out. Takingresponses from more than 1,000, the researchers found 27%of businesstravelers have engaged in binge drinking while travelingon the company dime, while 11% had a tryst with a stanger.

“America's business travelers are mixing business with pleasuremore often than you might think, leading to potentially dangerousscenarios that should be keeping employers up at night,” the reportsaid. “This type of behavior is cause for concern for employers, asit poses a substantial risk to the personal safety of theiremployees as well as the reputation of their business. Legal risksare also a reality since corporate Duty of Care laws have becometighter than ever – making the need for proactive employeeeducation vital for all organizations with traveling staff.”

Men are more into this on-the-road bad behavior than women, with14% admitting to a bar pickup (vs. 8% of women) and a thirddisclosing they binge drank on the company expense account, vs. aquarter of women.

“Two percent of males claim they've picked up a stranger in abar every time they've travelled for business – heightening theirrisk substantially,” the report darkly reported.

On Call International offered a bit of advice for thesegamboling business travelers.

“While it certainly appears that the allure of a one night standwithout the constraints of being close to home is tempting to manybusiness travelers, letting one's guard down in an unfamiliarsetting can easily lead to dangerous situations for an individual.This includes assault, robbery and otherwise avoidable accidentsleading to serious bodily injury – not to mention reputationaldamage for the employer,” said Jim Hutton, On Call International'schief security officer. “While responsibility ultimately falls onthe business traveler to act in a responsible and safe manner,employers need to be proactive by setting appropriate parametersand being clear about the expectations it has of its employeeswhile they are out representing the organization.”