Lone working in rural and agricultural settings is a critical safety consideration. Let’s explore some key points to ensure the well-being of lone workers.
Risk Assessment
Begin by assessing the risks associated with specific tasks. Consider factors like working with machinery, livestock, or in remote areas. Employers must manage the risk to lone workers by considering health and safety risks and then put in place reasonable measures to ensure tasks can be carried out safely. This means providing training to ensure the lone worker is competent to perform the task and then deciding on the level of supervision or monitoring appropriate to the level of risk.
The Health and Safety Act has key questions for deciding on safe working arrangements. These are:
- Can the risks of the job be adequately controlled by one person?
- Is the person medically fit and suitable to work alone?
- What training is required to ensure the person is competent and can work safely?
- How will the person be supervised?
- What happens if a person becomes ill, is injured, or there is an emergency?
- Who will be involved, and which hazards could harm those working alone?
Assessing Risk
A good-quality safety management system is the foundation for reducing lone working risks.
- Tailoring your risk assessment to the specific tasks of the job
- Health & Safety Policy: If you run a business – with or without employees – (including partners and part-time labour), a written health and safety policy is essential. Make it high-quality and activity-specific.
- Training: Ensure that all workers, whether employed or family members, receive proper training for operating equipment.
- Communication and Monitoring: Regular communication with lone workers is crucial. While technology can help, it shouldn’t be relied upon exclusively. What type do you use or have? Does it work?
- Weather/Terrain: Regularly assess this. If alone, can you get help or get out of the situation if things go wrong or injury occurs?
- Prioritising: Prioritising safety over convenience is essential.
What extra safety measures are required if an employee works alone?
Working alone is work carried out in an area where normal means of contact (e.g., verbal, visual) with other staff are not available, so there is no one to notice if something goes wrong or to render assistance. This may include working in isolated areas on-site. The potential risk of existing hazards is therefore increased to the extent that extra precautions are needed. When working alone, you are the only person there, therefore you are the person who would most likely influence and control the risk management while on the work site.
Working alone situations:
- Travelling alone as part of the job
- Travelling long distances
- Carrying out field work in remote or isolated locations
- Working unsupervised for any period of time
- Working late at night or doing shift work
- Working with the general public, but away from home base and co-workers
- Working on days with a reduced roster (e.g., public holidays)
Lone workers face different kinds of risks compared to those who work in the company of others. From personal injury and illness to confrontations, these risks are also amplified in situations where workers are left to their own devices.
Mitigating Lone Working Situations
- Operate a buddy system to reduce or eliminate the need to work alone
- Maintain regular contact with lone workers via phone, text, email, or live video conferencing
- Install CCTV and security devices/alarms to monitor lone workers
- Keep lone workers informed on the latest legislation, events, and workplace procedures
- Give lone workers access to the latest tools and technology tracking devices, PLB’s
- Encourage lone workers to attain a first-aid certificate
- For remote locations, inform workers on potential hazards in the area and where they can access help if needed
Planning ahead for Lone Working situations
The employer and worker must both identify hazards in the workplace, by completing a risk assessment considering what steps are reasonably practicable to ensure the safety of the employee and implement controls. This includes:
- If a risk of the employee suffering harm is assessed, then appropriate control measures need to be considered. Providing a VHF Radio and ensuring that it is monitored, or a remote system such as a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) could be practicable steps. Appropriate control measures will evaluate the time necessary for an emergency response.
- Ensure someone else knows about the workers’ day-to-day activities and an expected return time. Consider what actions shall be taken should the worker not report in, i.e., call search and rescue.
- Check weather and environmental conditions daily.
- Keep first aid kit up to date and fully stocked.
- Have a high-powered LED light or strobe light in the work vehicle or on hand – rescue helicopters have equipment to pick this up if a nighttime rescue is needed.
- Have a location board or workplace map at the office, work shed or, entry gate etc.
- If the worker is not fluent in speaking English, make special arrangements in case of an emergency.
Minimum Requirements:
- Scheduled check-in phone calls with lone workers for tasks over 3 hours.
- If the scheduled check-in time is 30 minutes late, consider the following:
– Try contacting the worker directly.
– Send another worker to the last known location, if practicable
– Check the GPS tracker, if applicable
– Contact a nearby neighbour, manager, supervisor, etc. and ask them to check the last known location, if practicable
- Always have a backup plan, i.e. if there is no cell coverage, use radio communications
Contractors/Sole traders:
- Considerations where workers are the sole employees of the business:
- Have a designated person i.e., partner, family, or flatmate to contact the contracted employer should the check-in time be exceeded or they do not return home.
- Inform the designated person of their work schedule, locations, and contact details for the work site and or onsite management.
- Keep the contracted employer informed of scheduled work locations and times.
Expectations of the Employee:
- The worker must be under direct supervision until assessed as competent by a person in charge of the workplace
- Ensure a nominated person knows where you are going and what time you will be back. Confirm that they will come and look for you if you are not back within 30 minutes of that time or a time decided by your plan
- Take clothing appropriate for the weather
- Take a cell phone or radio if either device works in the area you are working, or personal location beacon/tracking device
- Self-monitor for fatigue, heat, or cold related illness
- Do not undertake a task if there is a risk that you cannot complete it safely
- Do not move to a new area without first advising your nominated person of this change
- Report when safely home
Put the Policy in place:
- Discuss the policy and controls with your team
- Sign off that all employees understand what is required to stay safe
- Plans change, and so should your working alone agreement, depending on location and job
IT IS A LIVE DOCUMENT:
- review often.
Deb and the team at Rural Safe
Published in WIRED issue 74/September 2024 by Fencing Contractors Association NZ
You may also like: Hard Hat Safety
