Lone Worker Legislation & Policy for Victoria

Here are the acts and regulations found in Victoria, 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 state of Victoria.

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 

PART 3—GENERAL DUTIES RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY
Division 2—Main duties of employers
21. Duties of employers to employees

(1) An employer must, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain for employees of the employer a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.
Penalty: 1800 penalty units for a natural person;
9000 penalty units for a body corporate.
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), an employer contravenes that subsection if the employer fails to do any of the following—

(a) provide or maintain plant or systems of work that are, so far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health;
(b) make arrangements for ensuring, so far as is reasonably practicable, safety and the absence of risks to health in connection with the use, handling, storage or transport of plant or substances;
(c) maintain, so far as is reasonably practicable, each workplace under the employer’s management and control in a condition that is safe and without risks to health;
(d) provide, so far as is reasonably practicable, adequate facilities for the welfare of
employees at any workplace under the management and control of the employer;
(e) provide such information, instruction, training or supervision to employees of the
employer as is necessary to enable those persons to perform their work in a way that is safe and without risks to health.

The state of Victoria Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 does not refer to isolated or remote workers. The nearest regulation is for mine workers.

Part 5.3—Mines
415 Communication in the event of an employee working alone
The operator of the mine must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that there are available means for effective communication with an employee who is working alone at an isolated location at a mine.
Note – Act compliance—section 21 (see regulation 7)