The short version
- Section 36 of HSWA 2015 places the primary duty of care on the PCBU: ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers.
- Risks from working alone or in isolation must be identified, assessed and controlled like any other workplace risk - and WorkSafe guidance addresses working alone directly.
- Officers (directors and senior leaders) carry a personal due-diligence duty under section 44.
- Workers must take reasonable care and follow the safety arrangements provided.
- Deaths, notifiable injuries and notifiable incidents must be reported to WorkSafe as soon as possible.
What the law says
Section 36 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires a PCBU to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers while they are at work in the business. The duty travels with the work - community visits, mobile work and after-hours solo shifts are all covered.
Section 30 sets the management-of-risk standard: eliminate risks so far as is reasonably practicable, and where that is not possible, minimise them. For lone work this means honestly asking whether the task should be done alone at all before reaching for mitigations.
WorkSafe New Zealand publishes guidance on working alone and in isolation that sets the expected controls: assessing the work, communication systems, check-in procedures and emergency plans. Guidance is not law, but it is the benchmark WorkSafe inspectors assess against.
What it means in practice
- Map every role that involves working alone at any point, including travel and out-of-hours work.
- Complete and document a risk assessment per role. Our free lone worker risk assessment template covers the five steps.
- Provide communication and monitoring proportionate to the risk - scheduled check-ins at minimum, monitored duress alarms or safety apps where aggression, remoteness or medical risk is present. Coverage matters: parts of New Zealand have no mobile signal, so the plan must survive dead zones.
- Write the procedure down, train workers on it, and record the training.
- Test the escalation path end to end, including after hours.
- Review after incidents, near misses and seasonal changes to the work.
Who is personally on the hook
Section 44 of HSWA gives officers a due-diligence duty: acquire knowledge of the risks, ensure the PCBU has appropriate resources and processes, and verify they are used. It is a personal duty and cannot be discharged by delegation.
Offences under HSWA carry substantial fines, and reckless breaches of duty carry imprisonment for individuals. WorkSafe prosecutions routinely examine whether known risks - like staff working alone with the public - had documented, functioning controls.
When something goes wrong
Deaths, notifiable injuries or illnesses, and notifiable incidents must be reported to WorkSafe as soon as possible after the PCBU becomes aware of them, and the site generally must be preserved until WorkSafe says otherwise. Our incident report form template includes the notifiable-event check so it happens on the day.