Lone Worker Policy Guide

Health & Safety

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Establishing the right procedures for managing lone workers on your farm is a critical part of maintaining your general health and safety. Lone working presents a number of unique risks that require special consideration.

That's why agribusiness owners and managers create lone worker policies. They are valuable documents you can return to time and again to ensure the health and safety of lone workers on your property.

In our complete guide, we'll provide all the information you need to understand lone worker policies, and tips for creating one to use on your farm.

What is a lone worker policy?

A lone worker policy is a document that addresses the risks faced by lone workers and the required tasks to maintain their safety. It addresses required actions for managers and employees alike.

It outlines the broad approach a business takes to ensuring the safety of lone workers while detailing specific measures and protocols. Writing a lone worker policy helps a business consider what it does to protect lone workers and where it can improve.

When written, a lone worker policy serves as an indispensable document offering a holistic approach to lone worker safety.

Why are lone worker policies important on farms?

Lone working is common in agriculture. Whether workers are alone while fixing a distant fence or spending weeks isolated on a cattle station, having a strong approach to their health and safety is paramount.

If you want to be sure that you're doing as much as you can to protect lone workers, you need to create such a policy. In some situations, lone worker policies may also be considered a legal requirement.

According to Safe Work Australia, a person conducting a business or undertaking must "ensure the health and safety of yourself, workers and others (including your family and visitors) at work".

New Zealand's Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 requires that employees provide information about workplace hazards and develop procedures for dealing with workplace emergencies.

A lone worker policy can be an instrumental part of preparing for health and safety events and sharing relevant information with your employees.

How to create a farm lone worker policy

Creating a lone worker policy generally requires the following elements:

Write a policy statement: Your policy statement defines the goals of your lone worker policy. Give an overview of the major risks to lone workers and how your policy addresses them. You should also highlight any supporting documentation, like a lone worker safety checklist.
Conduct a risk assessment: Next, it's time to conduct a risk assessment. Risk assessments are critical components of any health and safety policy on your farm. They enable you to list and understand the major hazards that can impact lone workers.
Corrective actions and control measures: As part of your risk assessment, establish your corrective actions and control measures. Corrective actions are relevant when a risk originates from some kind of failure or problem on your farm. If a hazard cannot simply be solved, you'll need to come up with control measures to limit the risk it poses.
Define lone worker procedures: With your risk assessment complete, establish guidelines and procedures to be followed on your farm. Lone workers may be required to use a check-in app. They will have defined measures to follow when conducting specific tasks. Managers may be required to monitor their farm management app and regularly review lone worker safety risks.
Establish reporting procedures: Reporting is an important way to ensure that lone worker risks are identified and dealt with. Explain how reports should be made and how corrective actions will take place.
Write your policy: With your background work complete, you're ready to bring your policy together into a cohesive document. Read on for an overview of what specifically your policy should include.
Review and update: A lone worker policy is anything but static. You should regularly review your risk assessment and policy and make any required updates.

What areas should a lone worker policy cover?

A lone worker policy may look quite different from one farm to another. When creating your policy, be sure to consider specific attributes of your farm as well as your local regulations.

We've also assembled a general overview of the areas that should be addressed within your lone worker policy.

Roles

An important area for your lone worker policy to cover is the various roles of stakeholders. Roles within a lone worker policy can generally be split between employers and lone workers.

Employers are often responsible for tasks like conducting risk assessments, creating and reviewing policies and providing appropriate training.

An employer should also provide personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety equipment for lone workers to use. Monitoring systems, such as the use of a check-in app, should also be established.

Lone workers have responsibilities of their own. Workers in Australia and New Zealand have generalised duties to cooperate with policies laid out by their employers to comply with workplace health and safety laws.

Lone workers on rural properties must adhere to safety procedures. These procedures can be even more important when there is no one around to provide emergency assistance.

They must maintain communication protocols, and monitor their own safety and well-being.

Hazards

Identifying particular hazards for lone workers is an important step in developing a lone worker policy. Some examples of farm hazards that may be relevant for lone worker policies are:

Falls from high places.
Equipment and machinery malfunctions.
Animals.
Exposure to hazardous chemicals.
Electrical hazards like overhead power lines or faulty wiring.
Noise exposure.
Mental health hazards resulting from social isolation.

While many of these hazards might be found in a regular farm risk assessment, they may become particularly important in the context of lone working.

Corrective actions and control measures

As part of your risk assessment, you must eliminate and control your hazards. Totally eliminating hazards is often not possible. However, you may decide to prevent particular tasks from taking place if the risk is considered too great in a lone working context.

For example, you may ban lone workers from working at heights or with certain animals on the property.

Generally, you are required to control hazards instead. Some ways you may control certain hazards for lone workers include:

Clear signage: Using signage to identify various dangers around your property can be vital for lone workers when no one else is around to provide these warnings.
Scheduled equipment maintenance: You may choose to amend your schedule for equipment maintenance to account for lone workers. This can involve conducting a maintenance check before a period of lone working begins.
Automated vehicle shutoffs: Consider installing automated vehicle shutoffs for situations where vehicles can present a risk to lone workers.

More general policies, such as the use of lone worker safety devices, can also function as excellent control measures for lone working hazards.

Incorporate these control measures into your policy and illustrate how you will review the measures to ensure they are working as intended.

Safety devices

Lone worker safety devices are essential tools for employees working in isolation and should be covered in your lone worker safety policy.

Smartphones are now one of the most widely used lone worker safety devices. When installed with software like Onside, they can be vital tools for monitoring and providing information for lone workers.

Other lone worker safety devices include:

Satellite communication devices: These devices are used for communication in areas with poor or no mobile coverage, making them vital for lone workers on large properties.
Wearable buttons: Wearable buttons are convenient and can be pressed in an emergency to immediately alert a designated contact or emergency service.
Fall detection devices: These devices automatically detect falls and can trigger alerts.

In your lone worker safety policy, address devices in use on your property and give guidelines for their correct usage.

Medical assessment

Your lone worker policy should address procedures for a medical assessment to take place for lone workers. Pre-existing medical conditions can make lone working especially risky.

If a lone worker has a condition like epilepsy or a high risk of heart failure, you may need particular safeguards in place. Alternatively, they may simply be an inappropriate candidate for lone working.

In your policy, address how medical assessments will take place and what is being looked out for. Your medical assessment may include a review of medical history and a physical examination to get up-to-date information.

Mental health

Mental health can present a hazard for lone workers, especially those isolated for long periods. Your policy must include provisions to deal with this often-overlooked threat.

Consider the following methods for handling mental health hazards for lone workers:

Check-ins: Scheduled contact with supervisors is an important step to allow for open discussions about any concerns or issues the worker is facing.
Company culture: Establish a company culture where workers are aware of mental health issues, including warning signs. When issues do arise, workers must be encouraged to speak up and get the support they need.
Counselling: Employers can also assist by providing lone workers with access to mental health support like employee assistance programs.
Family contact: For lone workers isolated for long periods, employers should facilitate regular family contact to ensure continuous access to their social support network.

It's important that lone workers are aware of the warning signs of mental health issues and react appropriately.

Training procedures

Address how lone workers are trained to maximise their safety. Give details on theoretical and practical elements of your training systems. How is it determined that a lone worker has the necessary knowledge to begin isolated work?

Consider the use of scenario-based training where you can simulate lone working situations before they take place. This ensures lone workers have the chance to build their experience performing tasks in a safe training environment.

You should also identify processes for refresher courses to take place. This ensures that lone workers are kept up to date with safety practices and any changes that have taken place on your property.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

PPE is critical for general health and safety on farms and can be especially important for lone workers. Your lone worker policy should address the role of PPE in keeping lone workers safe.

In this section of your policy, detail the types of PPE that will be used by lone workers and in what situations. Explain systems in place to ensure proper fit, maintenance and training.

Some pieces of PPE that may be addressed in a lone worker policy are:

Protective clothing like coveralls, boots and jackets.
Chemical-resistant gloves for handling hazardous substances.
Safety goggles for tasks that may expose lone workers to flying debris, chemicals or dust.
Respirators or masks for employees working with chemicals or other airborne particles.
Safety harnesses for lone workers working at heights.

Reporting

It's essential to have a well-defined reporting policy for understanding incidents and hazards that affect lone workers. In your lone worker policy, outline the specific steps that lone workers should follow to report any incidents, including near misses.

Emphasise the importance of immediate reporting. Make use of tools like Onside for reporting, as farm management apps reduce friction and make it easy to include supporting documentation.

Once you've addressed how reporting should take place, outline follow-up procedures for your agribusiness. Explain the specific steps your business will take to improve after health and safety incidents occur.

Monitoring systems

Detailing your monitoring systems in your lone worker policy ensures that everyone knows what has to take place to keep lone workers safe. It also enables you to review your systems and make any necessary improvements.

In this section of your policy, address the use of farm check-in apps and safety devices like fall detectors and GPS trackers. Then, detail what happens after an emergency has been identified.

Who is contacted and what actions do they take? When it is determined that emergency services must be notified of the incident?

Explain the process for reviewing monitoring systems and improving them where necessary.

Three tips for better lone worker policies on your farm

Developing a lone worker safety policy is a critical step in building a safer culture in your agribusiness. Best of all, it allows you to improve your lone worker safety processes across the board.

Here are three more steps you can take for superior lone worker safety on your farm:

Schedule updated risk assessments: By regularly revisiting your risk assessments, you can ensure that you are taking the necessary steps to protect workers on your property. Since lone workers can be particularly at risk, this is especially important for their protection.
Use a farm management app: Farm management apps such as Onside can allow managers to monitor lone workers through check-in features. Other functions such as farm mapping and sharing information through health and safety features make these solutions well worth investing in.
Build your company culture: Your policies and procedures should all work towards building a company culture that promotes lone worker safety. Encourage open communication about safety concerns and mental health and ensure you have robust reporting protocols in place.

A Complete Guide to Farm Lone Worker Policies