There will be many times when CFA members need to work alone, which means if an accident occurs there won’t be anyone nearby to help.
Working or travelling alone can increase the likelihood of some workplace hazards or risks occurring. And when incidents occur, the consequences can be more severe when people work or travel alone.
Examples of situations where you could be working alone include:
- working in an office environment outside normal working hours
- working out of sight and/or out of sound of other people, such as a fireground or working alone at a fire station
- working in remote locations or isolated workplaces where it may be difficult for others to help you because of distance or topography
- travelling to and from remote locations or isolated workplaces, or through areas where terrain, road or weather conditions may present additional risks.
To maintain safety at all times, it’s imperative to have a plan in place before doing the task so that an alarm is raised if a CFA member goes missing. Such a plan could include informing a brigade member, supervisor, line manager or even a family member of:
- the task to be performed
- the location of the task
- how you can be contacted
- how long the task should take
- your intended path of travel to and from the location.
You can also use CFA’s Lone Worker Line.
This service, provided by an independent company called Well Done International, is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s especially useful for people who live alone or want would prefer to use a third party to ensure their welfare.
To use the service, you phone 1300 654 146 and lodge a ‘welfare event’ with Well Done International. It may take longer the first time you call because of the setup requirements. The Lone Worker Line operator will ask you for your intended route and estimated time of arrival.
You must also choose a ‘check-in frequency’ which is how often the service expects you to confirm everything’s OK by responding to a text message.
If you need to alter your route or estimated time of arrival after setting it up, you have to call the service and alter the terms of the welfare event.
If you don’t respond to a welfare check, the information you’ve provided in advance will allow the operator to pass on your possible location to CFA duty officers who can then attempt to contact you to confirm your welfare. If no contact can be made, a search may be carried out.
When you’ve completed your journey or finished your after-hours lone work, you need to terminate the welfare event by sending a text message containing the word ‘close’.
