The Definition of Mobile Worker

Definition of Mobile Worker

A mobile worker is an employee whose job regularly takes them away from a single fixed workplace. Mobile workers travel between customer sites, project locations, field assets or regions, and often spend significant time driving or working in places their employer does not control.

Examples include field service and maintenance technicians, utility and telecom crews, home healthcare and social workers, sales representatives, inspectors and surveyors, delivery and logistics drivers, construction supervisors moving between sites, and fly-in fly-out or drive-in drive-out workers in mining and energy.

Mobile workers face many of the same risks as lone workers, plus the hazards of travel and unfamiliar locations. Employers have the same duty of care for mobile workers as for anyone working on their premises, even though they cannot directly control the conditions at every location.

Risks Faced by Mobile Workers

• Driving: road crashes are one of the leading causes of work-related deaths. Long distances, tight schedules, poor weather and fatigue increase the risk.
• Fatigue: early starts, long days, overnight travel and irregular hours can cause microsleeps and errors.
• Working alone or in remote areas: help may be far away if an injury, illness or vehicle breakdown occurs.
• Unfamiliar sites: unknown hazards at customer premises, such as poor access, aggressive dogs, unsafe structures or hazardous materials.
• Violence and aggression: visiting homes or handling complaints can expose workers to threats.
• Environmental conditions: heat, cold, storms and poor mobile coverage.

Managing Mobile Worker Safety

Plan and assess

Assess the risks of each type of mobile work, including routes, sites and tasks. Use site risk information and pre-visit checks so workers know what to expect.

Journey management

Use journey management to plan routes, limit driving hours, schedule rest breaks, and track when workers depart and arrive. Discourage driving after long shifts or overnight.

Check-ins and monitoring

• Set check-in schedules and clear escalation steps when a check-in is missed.
• Use mobile safety apps or devices with GPS location, SOS buttons and man down alarms.
• Use geofencing to confirm arrival at and departure from high-risk locations.
• Provide satellite communication where mobile coverage is poor.

Fatigue and wellbeing

Manage hours of work and travel using a fatigue risk management system, and support mobile workers' mental health, since isolation and long periods on the road can add stress.

Training and equipment

Train mobile workers in defensive driving, dynamic risk assessment, de-escalation and emergency procedures. Provide well-maintained vehicles, emergency kits and suitable PPE.

Example of Mobile Worker

An HVAC service company had 60 technicians visiting homes and businesses across a large region. Dispatchers often had no idea where technicians were after the first job, and one technician who slipped on a commercial roof waited nearly two hours before anyone noticed he had not checked out.

The company introduced a mobile safety app with job check-in and check-out, GPS location, a timed alert for jobs that ran over and an SOS button. It also added driving hour limits and a short pre-job hazard checklist for roof work. When a technician later had a medical emergency in a plant room, the overdue alert led to help arriving within minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions: Mobile Worker

What is the difference between a mobile worker and a lone worker?

A mobile worker moves between locations, while a lone worker works without close supervision or colleagues nearby. Many mobile workers are also lone workers, but not all.

Is an employer responsible for a mobile worker's safety at a customer site?

Yes. Employers keep a duty of care for their workers wherever they are working, and should coordinate with site owners about hazards and controls.

Is driving for work covered by safety programs?

Yes. Work-related driving is one of the highest risks for mobile workers and should be part of the safety management system.