Working alone under Part 4: the hazard assessment, the check-in procedure and the review
A landscape construction labourer closes the yard alone each evening. The owner says he has a phone, but nobody is assigned to receive a check-in or respond when contact fails. The last vehicle leaves before the closing tasks begin.
Lone work turns on whether assistance is readily available in an emergency, injury or illness. Assigned lone work requires hazard review and a written checking procedure, including intervals, recorded results and a missed-contact response. Consultation, training and review also apply. Use the current guidance and actual assignment to build the arrangement, with any relevant change or reported problem returned for review.
Check the requirement against the actual work
- Describe when the person is actually alone. List the closing tasks, work locations and period after others leave. Ask who could provide timely assistance and how that person would know it is needed. Give the actual arrangement to the employer’s reviewer. Avoid answering the question simply by counting vehicles on site earlier in the day.
- Review the task hazards before choosing check intervals. Involve the assigned worker and the applicable worker representatives in the responsible review. Identify which work can be changed or arranged differently and obtain the resulting instructions. Do not select a universal check frequency from this lesson or use a short duration to declare that the closing task needs no assessment.
- Name the checker and test the communication route. Locate the current written procedure and confirm the people assigned for that shift, including relief arrangements. Ask them to explain how checks and results are handled. Check the actual communication coverage rather than relying on the phone’s presence. Keep an unconfirmed checker visibly pending in the closing roster.
- Walk through a missed-contact scenario safely. Ask the responsible people to explain the procedure they will follow if the worker cannot be reached. Verify the current contact information and the resources identified in that response. Do not improvise a rescue exercise or send an untrained person into a hazard. Record missing arrangements for correction before the routine is accepted.
- Retain checks and review actual changes. Keep the received check records, briefing evidence and current procedure reference together. Record the review date and how changed tasks or failed checks reach the employer. A new closing route, absent checker or reported problem deserves a visible response. Do not erase a missed check to make the weekly record appear complete.
Common mistakes
- Treating a phone as proof of readily available assistance.
- Naming a checker who has not accepted the shift role.
- Removing missed contacts from the record.
Checklist
Before accepting the lone-work assignment
- Actual isolated tasks and period identified.
- Hazards and applicable consultation reviewed.
- Written procedure and current checker confirmed.
- Communication and missed-contact arrangements checked.
- Records and review changes retained.
Check your understanding
The worker says he can call if something happens. Does that replace the checking arrangement?
