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This paper is an updated summary with feedback of a paper originally presented at the ACM HealthSec Workshop held in Salt Lake City October 2024 [12]. The delivery of remote health services in Northern Territory (NT) Australia, presents many communications challenges due to the harsh environment. This poses numerous challenges for the health services provider NT Health, as they have a duty of care for the occupational health and safety of remote health workers (RHWs). While there have been piecemeal attempts to resolve these challenges, this has not been done in a holistic manner, with a notable lack of focus on remote health worker safety. We use a mixed methods approach to identify systemhazards of RHWs as they deliver health services, with a particular emphasis on road safety and an alert and response system that was implemented to improve occupational health and safety. This involved a hazard analysis, using System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA), of the alert and first response system (involving discussions with NT Health personnel), and a thematic analysis of interviews carried out with staff to understand the effectiveness of NT Health’s safety management system and find any notable challenges. The hazard analysis identified many challenges to effectively implementing an alert and response system due to technological and implementation challenges. At the same time thematic analysis highlighted safety culture challenges, independence and isolation, implementation challenges and inconsistency as potential barriers to an effective safety management system. These findings will only enhance the future occupational health and safety of RHWs and the general population.

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What Are the Hazards in Providing Remote Health Services in Rural Australia and How Can We Manage Them?

  • 会议论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Ashley Brooks,
  • Arnab Majumdar

摘要

This paper is an updated summary with feedback of a paper originally presented at the ACM HealthSec Workshop held in Salt Lake City October 2024 [12]. The delivery of remote health services in Northern Territory (NT) Australia, presents many communications challenges due to the harsh environment. This poses numerous challenges for the health services provider NT Health, as they have a duty of care for the occupational health and safety of remote health workers (RHWs). While there have been piecemeal attempts to resolve these challenges, this has not been done in a holistic manner, with a notable lack of focus on remote health worker safety. We use a mixed methods approach to identify systemhazards of RHWs as they deliver health services, with a particular emphasis on road safety and an alert and response system that was implemented to improve occupational health and safety. This involved a hazard analysis, using System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA), of the alert and first response system (involving discussions with NT Health personnel), and a thematic analysis of interviews carried out with staff to understand the effectiveness of NT Health’s safety management system and find any notable challenges. The hazard analysis identified many challenges to effectively implementing an alert and response system due to technological and implementation challenges. At the same time thematic analysis highlighted safety culture challenges, independence and isolation, implementation challenges and inconsistency as potential barriers to an effective safety management system. These findings will only enhance the future occupational health and safety of RHWs and the general population.