Isolated or Remote work covers a broad range of occupations and industries such as real estate agents, rail track workers, trade service personnel, cleaners, individuals working from home, truck drivers, etc. Isolated work locations can also be working in an office or workshop outside of normal business hours, travelling to regional locations or working in remote site buildings.
Businesses need to ensure they meet their regulatory obligations for employees who work alone or in remote or isolated situations.
Isolated and Remote workers require a proactive consultation process with clear strategies and policies relating to the work being performed, a structured risk management process, communication system for employee health checks, emergency management plans and a fatigue management plan especially for workers travelling long distances.
Communication systems
Workplace partners can introduce your business to a variety of communication systems for conducting employee health checks in the field. The frequency of the health checks should be determined against the initial risk assessment of the task being conducted. There are various free apps available for iPhones that can be set for periodic checks through the day. The apps also contain a built in emergency / distress alarm function and motion detection alarms, for keeping track of staff safety in the field. If you do not have adequate resources Workplace Partners can monitor and manage this system for you.
If you do not have IPhones in your business there are also various other methods of communicating with employees in the field, please discuss this with your Workplace Partners consultant to identify the best system to suit your business.
Fatigue Management
Businesses need to ensure they meet their regulatory obligations for employees who work in remote or isolated locations. Employees may be travelling great distances between the work site and camp sites, travel time needs to be built into the daily work schedule. For long distance travel documented journey management plans should be used with scheduled breaks and phone check ins documented.
Workplace partners have a range of fatigue management strategies and auditing tools, please discuss this with your Workplace Partners consultant to find the most applicable system to suit your business.
Remote work sites
Depending on the work being conducted remote work sites may require additional supervision to be on site and additional safety & environmental inspections to create a culture of compliance and to avoid complacency due to the remote location. Workplace Partners Consultants can conduct periodic on-site inspections to ensure compliance with legislative requirements. Workplace Partners have a range of auditing tools from site setup to demobilisation to assist your business as required.
It is extremely important to create a culture of compliance, reporting incidents / hazards and keeping the employee’s safety as the top priority.
If your Business requires assistance with Remote or Isolated work management systems, please contact Workplace Partners on 1300 116 400