Safety alert on the dangers of working alone

A Safety and Health Alert has been released by the Western Australia Department of Commerce detailing the dangers associated with working alone and the importance of having regular communications with isolated workers.

Recent fatalities have highlighted the dangers. In one recent incident, a self-employed man was working alone and servicing some machinery. His mobile telephone was in his ute, which was parked approximately 10 m away. The machinery fell onto the man, trapping him underneath, and he was unable to reach his ute. He did not have any procedure for regular contact with anyone so no one realised anything was wrong and the man subsequently died under the machinery. His body was found several days later.

In another incident, a farm worker was working alone and the workplace had a procedure of regular contact with isolated workers, but there was no requirement to communicate with workers at the end of a working day. The farm manager had spoken with the worker over the phone at 2 pm. Some time after this phone call, the worker collided with a wire gate while driving an all-terrain vehicle which rolled over, seriously injuring the worker and rendering him unconscious and unable to call anyone, even though he had a mobile phone on him. A colleague found him the next morning, but he died in hospital the following day.

The Safety Alert makes the following recommendations:

• Persons working alone must have an effective means of communication available at all times (eg, mobile phone, two-way radio, emergency beacon).
• There must be a procedure for regular contact with the isolated worker. This needs to include regular contact throughout the day as well as at the end of the day to confirm the worker has safely completed work.
• The procedure must include what action to take in the event that contact cannot be made with the isolated worker.