Lone Worker Legislation & Policy for New South Wales

Here are the acts and regulations found in New South Wales, related to lone working and work alone employees. We cover all the lone worker policy and legislation we have found for this area, specifically for the New South Wales state.

Work Health and Safety Act 2011 No 10

Division 2 Primary duty of care

19   Primary duty of care

(1)  A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of:

(a)  workers engaged, or caused to be engaged by the person, and

(b)  workers whose activities in carrying out work are influenced or directed by the person,

while the workers are at work in the business or undertaking.

(2)  A person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the health and safety of other persons is not put at risk from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking.

(3)  Without limiting subsections (1) and (2), a person conducting a business or undertaking must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable:

(a)  the provision and maintenance of a work environment without risks to health and safety, and

(b)  the provision and maintenance of safe plant and structures, and

(c)  the provision and maintenance of safe systems of work, and

(d)  the safe use, handling, and storage of plant, structures and substances, and

(e)  the provision of adequate facilities for the welfare at work of workers in carrying out work for the business or undertaking, including ensuring access to those facilities, and

(f)  the provision of any information, training, instruction or supervision that is necessary to protect all persons from risks to their health and safety arising from work carried out as part of the conduct of the business or undertaking, and

(g)  that the health of workers and the conditions at the workplace are monitored for the purpose of preventing illness or injury of workers arising from the conduct of the business or undertaking.

Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017

        Division 6 Remote or isolated work

48   Remote or isolated work

(1) A person conducting a business or undertaking must manage risks to the health and safety of a worker associated with remote or isolated work, in accordance with Part 3.1. Note— WHS Act—section 19 (see clause 9).

(2) In minimising risks to the health and safety of a worker associated with remote or isolated work, a person conducting a business or undertaking must provide a system of work that includes effective communication with the worker.

Maximum Penalty –

(a) in the case of an individual – 70 penalty units, or
(b) in the case of a body corporate – 345 penalty units.

(3) In this clause:

assistance includes rescue, medical assistance and the attendance of emergency service workers; remote or isolated work, in relation to a worker, means work that is isolated from the assistance of other persons because of location, time or the nature of the work.