Dear Renata,
I’m curious to know if it is legal to work alone as my company regularly requires this. My workmates don’t feel safe doing so and we are also feeling more physical pain than usual.
There is nothing in the OHS legislation specifically addressing working alone. However, your employer has what is known as a general duty of care to provide and maintain for employees a system of work that is safe and without risks to health.
The employer also has a duty to consult with workers and HSRs in identifying, assessing and controlling hazards and risks.
If you and the others believe that the current system of work, which involves you working alone, then you need to take this to your HSR to raise it with your employer. The OHS Act gives HSRs a lot of rights and powers which means that they can make the employer take action.
Go to our website for much more detailed information on Working Alone – how to have this addressed under the OHS Act, some ideas about measures that can be taken to reduce the risk, as well as links to our regulator’s website and advice and advice from elsewhere as well.
If your concern is not about working alone in the sense that you are isolated – or that this is just part of the problem – but rather about the heaviness of the work itself being undertaken by a worker on their own, then this is a different issue.
It is still about it not being a safe system of work and if you are in pain then it is probable that the work itself is hazardous and causing musculoskeletal injuries. The employer must comply with the Hazardous Manual Handling regulations and Compliance Code. Under the regulations your employer must identify and eliminate or minimise hazardous manual handling. For more information, go to the Strains and Sprains section of our site.
On both these issues, if you feel unsafe, then your employer cannot just ignore this and do nothing.
