Keeping Remote and Isolated Workers Safe

About this course.

This course gives building and construction employers, supervisors and small-business owners a practical understanding of remote and isolated work and how to manage its risks. Its central idea is that "remote or isolated work" in WHS terms is not really about maps and distance — it is about isolation from the assistance of others. A person is doing remote or isolated work when the location, time or nature of their work means they are cut off from the help of other people if something goes wrong. That reframing matters, because it catches situations many businesses overlook: the lone worker after hours, the person in a confined or hard-to-reach part of a building, the operator who is technically "on site" but out of sight and out of earshot of anyone who could help.

From that foundation the course examines the particular risks that isolation creates or worsens, sets out the employer's duty to manage those risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and describes the practical controls available — with a strong emphasis on matching the control to the level of risk rather than reaching for the same solution every time. It frames the duties through the model WHS Regulations' approach to remote or isolated work and the guidance Safe Work Australia publishes, names that guidance so you can obtain and read it, and — as with all WHS topics in Australia — reminds you that the detail varies by jurisdiction and that Victoria operates a different Act altogether. The course keeps its legal statements general, refers to duties by subject matter rather than clause numbers, and points you to the primary sources you should read yourself.