Comcare - Australian Goverment
Comcare - Australian Goverment
Putting you first at the centre of what we do. Keeping you healthy and safe at work. Supporting you when you are harmed at work. Ensuring your scheme works and is sustainable.

International Deployment

Organisations are often confronted by the reality of increased risk to workers when travelling overseas. This recognition drives the need to provide for a more systematic approach to understanding travel risks, how workers may be impacted and what the organisation should do in response.

To assist members of the federal jurisdiction Comcare has developed fact sheets and tools that can be downloaded to raise awareness of the OHS risks associated with sending workers overseas.

The fact sheets and travel tips pamphlet while being individual resources relating to travel may also form part of more formal promotion or training programs within organisations for workers travelling overseas.

The Travel risk assessment checklist is a tool that assists travellers to gather necessary information on hazards they may encounter and can form the basis of a wider risk management process. In assessing and analysing the travel you should consult your own organisation’s risk management policy and framework and substitute these wherever appropriate. Part one of the tool is designed to raise awareness for the traveller while part two assists organisations identify, assess and mitigate for risk.

What you need to know

When considering sending workers overseas organisations need to:

  • identify any threats relating to the travel
  • evaluate these threats in consideration of the traveller's profile
  • set an acceptable level of risk relating to the intended travel
  • implement strategies to reduce the level of risk while monitoring for any changes in threats or a breakdown in the mitigation strategy.

No travel event is without risk. However, the level of risk planning may be scaled to the assessed risk of the mode, purpose and destination of travel. If travelling to a destination assessed as low risk, a less comprehensive assessment may substitute provided due consideration is given to emergency management. If something does happen to workers while overseas organisations must be prepared to respond.

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