Markets 
Dr Lucinda Iles
Western Australia’s mining industry has helped build the state’s prosperity for generations and today employs around one in 10 of the state’s workers.
It supports regional communities and underpins much of our economic success – but it’s not an industry free from significant and justified scrutiny, especially relating to the wellbeing of its workforce.
The 2018 FIFO mental health report raised questions about psychological wellbeing.
A parliamentary inquiry that led to the Enough is Enough report exposed serious concerns about sexual harassment and the treatment of women in the sector.
Concerns about mental health, workplace culture and sexual harassment were no longer confined to anecdote or isolated incidents.
What was less clear, however, was the scale of these issues across the industry.
How many workers were struggling?
How widespread was harassment?
What demographics of worker experienced mining differently to their colleagues?
And what aspects of the work environment were driving better, or worse, outcomes?
As researchers, we realised there was no robust baseline from which to answer these questions.
That gap led to the Curtin University-led Landmark Study, conducted three years ago through the Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Program.
More than 2500 mining workers from 226 companies across Western Australia participated, alongside a comparison group of non-mining workers and extensive interviews with people working in the industry.
The findings were confronting.
More than half of workers reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment over the previous 12 months.
For women, experiences of sexist and sexual hostility were particularly common.
Nearly one in three mining workers reported high or very high psychological distress, while more than a third experienced burnout on a weekly basis.
Perhaps most strikingly, many of the behaviours workers reported were not the overt forms of misconduct that often attract headlines.
Instead, they were everyday experiences of disrespect, exclusion and hostility that can become normalised within workplace culture.
The research also highlighted a significant age divide: workers under 35 consistently reported poorer mental health outcomes than older colleagues.
The data challenged another common assumption.
When organisations look to improve wellbeing, there is often a tendency to focus on helping individuals become more resilient.
Yet, our findings suggested the strongest influences on mental health, harassment and safety behaviours were organisational rather than personal.
In other words, workplace culture, leadership, work design and psychosocial safety appeared to matter more than individual coping skills.
This distinction is important because it changes where solutions should be directed.
Over the past several years, industry, government and workplace stakeholders have responded with a range of initiatives.
New support services have been introduced, respect-focused programs have been established and organisations have invested in psychosocial risk management, training and awareness initiatives.
These efforts represent a significant commitment of time, money and attention – but an essential question remains unanswered: Have they worked?
This is where research becomes particularly important.
Too often, public discussion focuses on the announcement of new programs rather than whether those programs achieve their intended outcomes.
Genuine progress requires measurement. Without it, we are left with assumptions instead of evidence.
That is why we are once again asking mining workers to share their experiences.
The next phase of the MARS worker survey, launched this month, is not simply an update.
It is an opportunity to examine whether workplace culture has improved, whether psychological distress has reduced, whether workers feel safer and more respected and whether previous findings still hold true.
Just as importantly, it allows us to identify where challenges persist.
The mining industry has changed significantly over recent decades. Workforces evolve, expectations shift and new risks emerge.
Understanding these changes requires more than a single snapshot in time.
It requires ongoing measurement.
For participating workers, the survey is an opportunity to ensure their experiences contribute to the evidence base shaping future policies and practices.
For organisations, it provides an opportunity to better understand the realities facing their workforce.
And for policymakers and researchers, it offers a rare chance to track change across one of Australia’s most important industries.
Research cannot solve workplace problems on its own, but it can provide something essential: a clear picture of where we are, where we have improved and where more attention is needed.
The first survey gave us that picture; now it’s time to see how much of it has changed.
Dr Lucinda Iles is a Research Fellow at Curtin University’s Centre for Transformative Work Design
From our partners
Read the full article here
