Many of us watch the news from overseas detailing the latest conflict, natural disaster, health emergency or other crisis with interest but no real connection. The situation is vastly different for workers (and their PCBUs and WHS support professionals) when the organisation has operations and/or employees travelling in the affected area.

People-based WHS risk for organisations with international operations is a significant risk needing to be recognised and managed. An event impacting on an overseas worker implicates not only the worker and their family and colleagues, but also has legal ramifications for the PCBU responsible for providing a safe work environment.

WHS risks which would be straightforward to manage in Australia can be considerably more complex in an overseas context. The availability of local emergency services and government agencies to assist can be vastly different from the Australian experience. Local laws, infrastructure, work practices/culture and training can all vary enormously with implications for both the consequence and likelihood of a WHS risk to workers.

Fully understanding what local resources exist and can be called upon is critical. Following this, implementation of a simple and well-rehearsed process for the management of the incident is required, ensuring that the relevant workers are aware of the requirements and trained in using the procedure. The procedure should also be regularly tested, and updated as required for changing business and local conditions.

Please contact QRMC for more information about managing WHS risks for OS operations.