By Peter Milne
A landmark study into the mental health of West Australian fly-in, fly-out workers in 2018 called for them to spend no more than half their time on site.
Six years later, the state’s mining sector appears to be moving in that direction.
The mental health of WA FIFO workers has been a hot topic since a 2015 state parliamentary inquiry.Credit: Glenn Hunt
Curtin University organisation psychologist Cheryl Yam said recent feedback from both miners and unions indicated family-friendly rosters were becoming more common.
Yam co-authored the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety study for the WA government released in March that interviewed more than 2500 FIFO and other mine workers.
It analysed the state of mental health, bullying and harassment, and safety attitudes in the sector that employs about 10 per cent of WA’s workforce.
“People on even-time rosters tended to report better mental health outcomes compared to people on rosters that were, for example, on a two-on, one-off or a longer roster,” Yam said.
Yam said while her study’s results were not directly comparable to the 2018 report, the frequency of longer rosters such as four weeks on, one week off; three and one; and even two and one had reduced.
The benefit of shorter rosters with more time for recovery was significant for all mental and wellbeing measures tracked by the MARS study. It also concluded the break needed to be long enough for workers to recover and switch off from work, as well as allow sufficient time with family and friends.
“Being able to have a shorter roster, it’s easier for people to look forward to home time when you have sufficient time to decompress and recover,” Yam said.
“That’s really what helps people to have better mental health.”
FIFO rosters a complex smorgasbord
The rosters offered by the big miners are a mixed bag, but the trend appeared to be for shorter stints and more flexibility.
WA’s biggest iron ore miner Rio Tinto accommodates about 11,000 FIFO workers on an average night across 25 villages at its Pilbara mines.
A Rio Tinto spokesman said it considered shift duration, shift start times and the number of consecutive shifts to reduce fatigue risk.
“Our shifts and rosters are designed to ensure that our people are provided with adequate sleep opportunity and rest for optimal performance,” he said.
Rio has about 25 different roster schedules operating in the Pilbara and since 2019 has moved more to even-time rosters.
Instead of seven day shifts and seven night shifts followed by seven days off (7/7/7), about 50 per cent of its workers now cycle between eight day shifts, six days off, then seven night shifts followed by seven days off (8/6/7/7).
Another 31 per cent of workers have eight day shifts then six days off. The roster for professional staff is five days of work and two days off followed by four days work and three days off.
Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue flies about 8000 workers to and from its Pilbara mines.
A Fortescue spokeswoman said a two weeks on, two weeks off roster was popular, as were opportunities to work part-time or job share. Workers could fly in from six regional centres in WA as well as Perth.
Mineral Resources, which has 6000 FIFO workers, introduced flexible rosters two years ago and has nine in operation with availability dependent on the location, role and stage of the project. Contractors generally are on the same roster as the employees they work with.
“The most common rosters are two weeks on, one week off; two weeks on, two weeks off; and eight days on, six days off,” a MinRes spokesman said.
MinRes is also introducing on-site mental health teams.
“Mental health counsellors will be based at each of our sites to provide convenient in-person consults and welfare checks, deliver education programs and build the skills of on-site leaders,” the spokesman said.
In a sample of 50 FIFO positions for operators advertised on SEEK last week, even-time rosters were in the minority.
About 30 per cent of the mainly contract positions offered an 8/6/7/7 roster, and another 8 per cent said an even-time roster was a possibility, while 48 per cent of jobs required a two weeks on, one week off swing.
Yam said the research showed that having a say in what roster you worked was good for mental health, but worryingly only 42 per cent of surveyed FIFO workers said they had a choice.
Rosters was only one issue affecting mine workers’ mental health investigated in the report by Curtin’s Centre for Transformative Work Design.
Yam said the main challenge for the mining companies was to create a “psychosocial safety climate.”
“That essentially is feeling that your mental health, your safety, your well-being is of importance and a priority to your company,” she said. At the team level workers had to feel safe to speak up if something was not right.
Yam said one of the biggest findings of the study was that actions of the employer had the dominant effect on the worker.
“That’s really what is contributing to mental health, above and beyond what an individual person can do,” she said.
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