Key takeaways
- A lone worker carries the full risk of a task with none of the redundancy, so the tasks that should never be done alone are the ones where a single failure is unrecoverable rather than merely inconvenient.
- Work that isolates a person from help, involves live electrical parts, or puts them in an excavation or confined space is the category where a second person or a formal emergency arrangement is required, not optional.
- A check-in arrangement only works if the interval, the method, the escalation and the person on the other end are all nominated before the shift starts, and if a missed check-in triggers a physical response.
- Trades who let themselves in early are the hardest group to supervise because the principal contractor may not know they are on site, so access control and a signing-in process are part of the lone worker control.
- The commercial cost of a lone worker incident lands on the principal contractor through lost time, investigation, insurance and reputational damage, long before any regulator becomes involved.
Most residential sites in NSW are small enough that the person running the job is also the person doing the work. A bathroom renovation, a deck, a granny flat fit-out, a repair job after a storm — these are routinely one-person operations, and the person on site is often the licensed builder or the supervisor who is meant to be supervising.
That is not a problem in itself. The problem is that the paperwork rarely catches up. A safe work method statement might list the high risk construction work on the job, but it will usually assume there is a crew to implement the controls. A site induction might cover the layout, the amenities and the emergency assembly point, but it will not say what happens when the only person on site is the one who falls.
Lone working is a condition, not a task. It changes the risk profile of everything else on the job, and it is the condition most likely to go unplanned on small residential work because the person who would normally do the planning is the person who is alone.
Why lone working is a different risk, not just a smaller one
Safety controls generally assume that somebody else is nearby. A first aid kit assumes someone can reach it. An emergency plan assumes someone can raise the alarm. A two-person lift assumes two people. A rule about not working on live electrical parts assumes there is a way to isolate and prove dead without a second set of hands.
When a worker is alone, those assumptions fail quietly. The hazard has not changed, but the recovery path has. A cut that would be a nuisance with a co-worker present becomes a search problem when the nearest person is a neighbour who may or may not be home. A fall from height that would trigger an immediate response becomes a wait of unknown length.
The practical way to think about it is this: the question is not “is this task dangerous?” but “if the control fails, can this person get themselves out?” A task can be low risk and still be a bad lone working task if the failure mode leaves the person unable to summon help.
Safe Work Australia’s guidance on safe work method statements for high risk construction work is written around the assumption that the SWMS describes how the work will be done safely, including the controls and the people involved. If the answer to “who is the spotter?” is “nobody”, that needs to be written down and addressed, not left implied.
The tasks that should never be done alone
The list below is not a prohibition on working alone. It is a list of situations where the consequence of a single failure is severe enough that a second person, or a formal emergency arrangement, is the control. On a small job the second person might be a labourer, a subbie who is already coming, or a neighbour who has agreed to be the emergency contact. What matters is that the arrangement exists before the work starts.
Work at height where a fall would leave the person unable to self-rescue
Roof work, edge work, work off a ladder or a platform where the fall distance and the landing surface combine badly. The issue is not just the fall; it is the delay before anyone notices. A person who falls and cannot reach a phone is in a different category to a person who falls and can call for help.
Live electrical work and any work near energised parts
Safe Work Australia’s electrical safety guidance is clear that the primary control is to de-energise and prove dead. Where that is genuinely not possible, the work needs a level of planning and a second person that a lone worker cannot provide. Testing and fault-finding on an energised circuit is the classic case: the person doing it is the person who cannot be rescued by themselves if something goes wrong.
Excavations, trenches and confined spaces
Any task where the atmosphere, the walls or the access route can fail without warning. A trench that collapses does not give the worker time to climb out. A confined space with an unknown atmosphere needs a standby person outside, and that standby person cannot be the same person who is inside.
Work near water, pools and open bodies of water
The NSW Government’s guidance on pools and pool safety deals with barriers, compliance and the risks that pools present on residential properties. For lone working, the relevant point is that a person who becomes incapacitated in or near water has a very short window before the outcome is unrecoverable. Pool fencing work, pool area renovations and any task where the worker is leaning over or working near water should be assessed with that in mind.
Service locating and digging near underground assets
Before You Dig Australia exists because underground services are not visible and the consequences of striking them are severe. A lone worker with a shovel and no spotter, no plan for what happens if a service is struck, and no way to isolate it quickly is a lone worker in a task that should have been planned differently. The free enquiry service is there to be used before the work starts, not after.
Heavy or awkward lifts
Sheet materials, glazing, a bath, a door, a beam. The hazard is not only the weight; it is the position the body ends up in when the load shifts. A two-person lift with a clear plan is a different task to a one-person lift with a phone in the pocket.
The mistake that costs the most. Treating a check-in arrangement as a phone call that happens if the worker remembers. If a missed check-in does not trigger a physical response from a nominated person who knows where the worker is, the arrangement is not a control — it is a comfort.
How check-in arrangements actually work
A check-in arrangement has four parts, and all four have to be nominated before the shift starts. Miss any one of them and the arrangement collapses on the day it is needed.
The first is the interval. This should be based on the task and the site, not on what is convenient. A task where a failure leaves the worker unable to call for help needs a shorter interval than a task where they can. The interval is not a productivity target; it is the maximum time the worker could be down before someone notices.
The second is the method. A phone is the default, but coverage is not guaranteed in basements, lift shafts, new slabs with no windows, or regional sites. A radio, a two-way app with an automatic alert, or a physical check by a person who drives past can all be appropriate. The method has to work with the worker’s hands free and their hearing unobstructed.
The third is the receiving person. This must be an individual who has agreed to the role, knows the site address, knows what the worker is doing and knows what to do if the check-in does not come. A phone that rings out in an office is not a receiving person.
The fourth is the escalation. What happens when a check-in is missed? Who is called first? At what point does someone physically attend the site? Who has a key or a gate code? If the answer is “we would work it out”, the arrangement is not finished.
The practical test is a dry run. Have the worker deliberately miss a check-in and see what actually happens. If the result is a shrug, the system needs rebuilding.
Building a check-in system that survives a bad day
- 1Nominate the intervalSet how often the worker makes contact, based on the task and the site, not on convenience.
- 2Nominate the methodChoose a method that works with the worker’s hands free and the site’s coverage, and confirm it works before the shift.
- 3Nominate the personName the individual who receives the check-in, not a phone number that rings out.
- 4Nominate the escalationState what the receiver does when a check-in is missed, including who they call and when they attend.
- 5Test it onceRun a dry run so everyone knows what a missed check-in actually triggers.
When nobody notices for hours
The most common failure on small residential jobs is not a dramatic one. It is a worker who is expected to be somewhere at a certain time, does not arrive, and the people around them assume they are running late. By the time anyone thinks to check, several hours have passed.
That delay is the real risk. It is also the part most within the builder’s control, because it depends on whether anyone has been given the job of noticing.
Three things make the difference. The first is that the person expecting the worker knows where they are working, not just that they are working. The second is that there is a nominated time by which a missed contact becomes an action, not a question. The third is that someone has the means to get onto the site — a key, a code, a contact who can attend.
On a small job this can be as simple as a family member or a regular subbie who knows the routine and has agreed to act. What it cannot be is a vague understanding that “someone would notice”.
There is also a supervision dimension here. The duties that sit with a principal contractor and a supervisor on a residential job are set out in the Work Health and Safety Act and Regulation, and they do not disappear because the site is small or because the only worker is the builder. If anything, they become harder to discharge because there is no second person to observe, question or correct. The guide to NSW builder supervision duties is worth revisiting when a job moves to a lone working pattern.
The trades who let themselves in early
This is the part of lone working that catches builders out most often. A tiler, an electrician, a plumber or a landscaper has a key, a code or an arrangement to start before the builder arrives. They are on site alone, they are not part of the day’s briefing, and the principal contractor may not know they are there.
The risk is not that these trades are careless. It is that nobody has assessed their task for lone working, nobody knows their check-in arrangement, and nobody is expecting them. If something happens at seven in the morning, the first person to know may be the builder arriving at nine.
The controls are straightforward but they have to be deliberate. Access should be controlled, which means keys and codes are issued to named individuals and recorded. Every trade that can let themselves in should have a documented start time and a means of confirming arrival — a message, a sign-in sheet, a site diary entry. Their SWMS or their agreed method should address what happens if they are working alone, including who they contact and how often.
It also helps to be honest about why this matters commercially. If a subbie is injured on a site the builder controls, the builder will be in the investigation whether or not they were present. The lost time, the notifiable incident process, the insurance conversation and the disruption to the programme all land on the principal contractor. Getting a text at the start of the shift is a cheap control compared with the alternative.
For builders who use CPD to keep their supervision and safety knowledge current, the guide to how NSW builder CPD works sets out how the requirements fit together across a licence period.
Before a lone worker starts a shift
- The task has been assessed specifically for lone working, not just for the hazard.
- The worker has a working phone or radio and has confirmed coverage at the workface.
- The check-in interval and the receiving person are written on the SWMS or a site note.
- The worker knows what to do if they cannot make a check-in and can still move.
- First aid equipment and the nearest medical facility are known to the worker.
- Emergency services can access the workface without a second person opening a gate or door.
- The worker has authority to stop work and leave if conditions change.
A worked example: the granny flat that was almost a problem
A builder in western Sydney was running a granny flat project at the rear of an existing property. The main house was occupied, the side access was narrow, and the only way onto the site was through a gate that the builder kept locked. The builder was on site most days, but the electrical rough-in was scheduled for a Saturday because that was when the electrician could fit it in.
The electrician had a key. He arrived at seven, let himself in, and started work in the flat while the owners were still asleep in the main house. The builder had not asked him to confirm arrival, had not discussed what he would do if he was working alone, and did not know he was on site until a message came through mid-morning.
Nothing went wrong that day. But the builder recognised the pattern and changed how the job ran. The electrician was asked to send a message when he arrived and when he left. The key register was updated so the builder knew who held a key and when. The Saturday work was listed on the site diary with a nominated contact who knew the electrician was on site and would notice if he did not check out. The builder also added a line to the site induction for trades working outside normal hours, covering what to do if they were alone and could not reach anyone.
The cost of those changes was a few text messages and a short conversation. The cost of the alternative is not worth calculating, because the scenario where it matters is the one where the electrician is on the floor of an unfinished granny flat and nobody knows he is there.
What to write down, and where
Lone working controls belong in the same documents that already govern the job, not in a separate folder that nobody reads. The SWMS for high risk construction work should state whether the task will be done alone and, if so, what the check-in arrangement is. The site diary should record who is on site and when. The induction should cover the emergency arrangements, including how emergency services would access the workface if the gate is locked and the only person with the key is the person who needs help.
If the job has a BASIX commitment or a certifier’s inspection coming up, the BASIX certificate guide for NSW builders is a reminder that the documents on a residential job interlock. Safety documentation is no different. A SWMS that assumes a crew, on a job that is being run solo, is a document that will not survive scrutiny after an incident.
The PointCPD course catalogue covers supervision, safety and compliance topics that map back to how small residential jobs are actually run, and the SWMS template guidance for residential builders is a useful starting point if the current documents assume more people than the job has.
The commercial reality
Lone working incidents are expensive in ways that are not obvious at the time. There is the immediate disruption to the programme, which on a small job can be the difference between finishing before a fixed date and not. There is the investigation, which will look at what the principal contractor knew and when. There is the insurance conversation, which will ask whether the task was assessed for lone working and whether the check-in arrangement was real. There is the effect on the relationship with the client, who may be living in the main house while the work is happening.
None of that is hypothetical, and none of it is covered by the argument that the worker was experienced. Experience does not change the recovery path. It changes the likelihood of a failure, not the consequence of one.
The control that costs the least and does the most is a nominated person who knows where the worker is, knows when to expect contact, and has agreed to act if contact does not come. That is a five-minute conversation. Everything else on this page is detail.
Questions builders ask
Do I need a second person on site for every task?
No. Most residential tasks can be done alone with the right controls. The tasks that need a second person or a formal emergency arrangement are the ones where a single failure leaves the worker unable to summon help, such as work at height with a bad landing, live electrical work, excavations and confined spaces, and work near water.
How often should a lone worker check in?
The interval should be based on how long the worker could be down before someone notices, not on convenience. A task where a failure leaves the worker unable to call for help needs a shorter interval than one where they can. Whatever interval is chosen, it needs to be agreed before the shift and known to the person receiving the check-in.
What should happen if a check-in is missed?
The receiving person should have a written escalation: who they call first, at what point someone physically attends the site, and who holds a key or gate code. If a missed check-in only produces a phone call to the worker’s mobile, the arrangement is not a control. A dry run is the simplest way to test whether the escalation actually works.
How do I manage subbies who let themselves in before I arrive?
Control access by issuing keys and codes to named individuals and recording who holds them. Ask each trade working outside normal hours to confirm arrival and departure, and make sure their method statement or SWMS addresses lone working. The principal contractor needs to know who is on site, even when they are not there.
Does lone working change my supervision duties as a principal contractor?
The duties under the Work Health and Safety Act and Regulation do not reduce because the site is small or because the only worker is the builder. If anything they become harder, because there is no second person to observe or correct. The supervision duties still apply, and the arrangements for checking on a lone worker are part of how they are discharged.
Where should the lone working arrangement be recorded?
In the documents that already govern the job: the SWMS for high risk construction work, the site diary, and the site induction. The induction should cover how emergency services would access the workface if the gate is locked. A separate note that nobody reads is not a record.
Sources
- Safe work method statement for high risk construction work · Safe Work Australia
- Electrical safety · Safe Work Australia
- Before You Dig Australia · BYDA
- Pools and pool safety · NSW Government
Published 23 June 2026. General information for builders, not legal, financial or engineering advice for a specific job. Check current requirements with the relevant regulator or standard before relying on them.
