REMOTE / ISOLATED WORK

1. REMOTE / ISOLATED WORK GETTING THE RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS RIGHT

2. THE RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS • There is a legal and moral obligation to adequately risk assess all remote and/or isolated work activities. • Personnel working in these locations must be competent to perform their duties and are entitled to the highest level of support and care. • To meet duty of care requirements, this process must follow a structured format and be fully documented. • The documentation forms a basis of an operations manual that will address safety issues associated with all aspects of the work activity. • All persons participating in the work activity must be familiar with the operations manual and comply with its requirements.

3. JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS (JSA) The JSA process requires the task to be broken into individual steps and each step assessed as follows: • Identify the hazards associated with the task. • Assess the level of risk associated with each hazard. • Identify suitable control measures to reduce the risk (where possible). NOTE - Risk controls will now form part of the remote/isolated area operating procedures. • Apply risk control measures. • Document risk assessment and controls. • Monitor and review as required. NOTE - The ‘DPIWE Hazard Register Form’ will assist with this process.

4. COMPETENCY & TRAINING • All personnel participating in remote/isolated activities must be competent to safely perform their allocated duties/tasks. • Competencies should be identified in the JSA process and training requirements met. • A training register should be established and file copies of certificates/qualifications retained (as appropriate). • All competencies must be current (as applicable). • Individuals may need to be competency assessed in specific skills or tasks (as required). • All steps must be documented and file copies retained. NOTE - The ‘DPIWE Competency & Training Register Form’ will assist with this process.

5. MEDICAL DISCLOSURE • A medical disclosure form will now be used to ensure specific information is gathered, regarding medical or other conditions that may affect a participants ability to perform the work safely and without risk to their health. • All participating personnel must complete the form. • A new form does not need to be completed for every remote/ isolated work activity, but must be resubmitted whenever personal details change.

6. MEDICAL DISCLOSURE • Managers/Supervisors should ensure that personal details are correct prior to any employee commencing remote/isolated work activities. • Managers/Supervisors may request a medical authorisation from the participants doctor, if there is a possibility that an existing medical condition may affect that persons health and safety while operating in a remote/isolated location. NOTE - The ‘DPIWE Medical Disclosure Form’ has been developed for this purpose.

7. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN (ERP) Part of the risk assessment process is to determine how potential emergency situations will be managed. • Suitable communications must be available and operational at the work location. • First aid requirements and competencies established. • Contact information for emergency services, local area medical facilities and support services is available on-site.

8. EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN (ERP) • Participating personnel are competent in the use of emergency equipment and response protocols. • Off-site support personnel are aware of the ERP and established reporting protocols. NOTE - The ‘Emergency Response Plan Form’ has been developed for this purpose.

9. EQUIPMENT INSPECTION CHECKLISTS It is essential that all equipment used in conjunction with the remote/isolated work activity is serviceable and checked prior to departure. • Inspection checklists should be developed to ensure all equipment is inspected and essential items and spares are not forgotten. • The checklists may also cover the inspection of personal equipment for high-risk activities or when deemed necessary. • All checklists must be completed and file copies retained. NOTE - The ‘Equipment Checklist Form’ will assist with this process.

10. DAILY REPORTING SCHEDULES It is essential that individuals or teams operating in remote/isolated locations report on a daily basis and in accordance with established protocols. • Reporting protocols or schedules must be developed for all remote/isolated work activities. • Individuals or teams must report twice daily to a nominated contact. • Contact/s must be aware of response protocols if no contact is made within the designated time period. • Scheduled morning and afternoon contacts must be recorded at both on-site and off-site locations to prevent confusion and to establish that messages were sent and received. NOTE - The ‘DPIWE Daily Reporting Schedule Form’ has been developed for this purpose.

11. PERMIT STRUCTURE • Prior to any remote/isolated work activity taking place, the final ‘operations plan’ must be viewed by all participating personnel (including support personnel). • Remote/isolated work activities must be authorised by the Branch Manager or Responsible Officer. • All high-risk remote/isolated work activities must be authorised by the Divisional Responsible Officer. NOTE - The ‘DPIWE Remote/Isolated Work Permit Form’ has been developed for this purpose.

12. SCENERIO The following photograph is a section of remote bush track where a four wheel drive vehicle became bogged on a routine one day field trip. Heavy rain and farm vehicle movement had caused this section to become rutted and boggy. The nearest assistance was approximately two hours walk (via bush tracks) from this location. Mobile phone coverage was available in the general area, but the incident location was in a blind spot and required a person to reach elevated ground before a call could be made. The vehicle was easily extracted by the two person field team as a direct result of thorough trip planning and preparation. ‘Let us now look at the planning process’

14. HAZARDS The JSA process identified a number of hazards associated with the task, some of these were: 1. Remote location. 2. Rough, slippery and wet off-road tracks. 3. Hazardous driving conditions. 4. Potential bogging of vehicle. 5. Communications difficulties. 6. Difficulty of access for emergency services. 7. First aid and self aid requirements.

15. RISK CONTROLS The risk controls adopted for the identified hazards were: 1. Four wheel drive vehicle with suitable ground clearance and equipped with recovery equipment. 2. Satellite Communications equipment (Mobile CDMA was seen as inadequate for the location due to signal blind spots). 3. Remote area first aid kit in the vehicle and personal first kits when away from the vehicle. 4. Extra drinking water, food and matches (to light a fire if required).

16. TRAINING & COMPETENCY REQUIREMENTS With the risk controls now in place, we need to ensure that participants are competent to undertake the task. Excluding the actual work activity, the following competencies were identified: 1. Competency to effectively operate a four wheel drive vehicle on rough terrain. 2. Competency in vehicle recovery techniques and associated equipment. 3. Competency in remote area first aid. 4. Competency in the use of satellite communications equipment.

17. EQUIPMENT INSPECTION AND CHECKLISTS Prior to departure on the field trip, all equipment was checked against a pre-established checklist to ensure that essential items and spares had not been forgotten and were in good working order. This process included an inspection of: 1. The vehicle. 2. Vehicle winch and associated recovery equipment. 3. Satellite telephone. 4. First aid equipment. 5. Additional safety equipment (as required).

18. THE ‘ERP’ AND DAILY REPORTING SCHEDULE The Emergency Response Plan had been completed and phone contact details were available (on-site) in the event that the vehicle was not recoverable, or to assist in the management of other emergencies which may arise. With the daily reporting schedules established and documented, contact was made with the appropriate off-site supervisor, who was notified of the situation and made aware of the vehicle location. Following the successful extraction of the vehicle from the bog, the supervisor was again notified and informed that the vehicle and occupants were now safe.

19. WHAT IF ? ‘What if’ adequate planning hadn’t taken place and the field team had relied on good luck, rather than good management. The outcome would have been very different ? The purpose of thorough planning is to ensure the effective control of the remote/isolated work activity and the management of incidents (should they occur). By identifying the hazards and assessing the risk, we can put in place the systems that will make the activity safer for all participating employees, contractors, volunteers and visitors.

20. WORKPLACE HEALTH & SAFETY ‘EVERYONES BUSINESS’

21. REFERENCE MATERIAL • Workplace Health & Safety Act 1995 • Workplace Health & Safety Regulations 1998 (specific attention to regulations 17, 18, 19 & 21) • Alive and Kick’n – Survival and Rescue (a comprehensive survival and rescue guide for Australia’s remote area Workers and travellers) by Nick Vroomans and Dave Basham (ISBN 0-646-42298-7). Copies are available through the DPIWE library service. Access to the Workplace Health & Safety Act + Regulations can be obtained through the following web address - www.thelaw.tas.gov.au Inquiries relating to this training resource should be directed to: Brett Hislop - HRM Consultant (OH&S) DPIWE - Human Resources Management Branch Level 6, 1 Franklin Wharf Hobart, 7001 Phone: 03 6233 3949 Mobile: 0428 535 100 E-mail: brett.hislop@dpiwe.tas.gov.au