putting financial strategies in place
and how to access professional mental
health support,” Ashby says.
“Employers acknowledge and
appreciate that there are some
complexities around the FIFO lifestyle
and want to make sure their workers have
access to the resources they need.
“They know that if their workforce
feels better about working away, they
will be safer, more productive and loyal.”
Ashby hopes to one day see mental health
awareness and support for workers and
families become standardised across the
industry, just like physical safety training.
The merits of doing so is backed by a
recent joint FIFO Families and Creating
Communities survey of 800 West
Australian FIFO workers.
“We found that family acceptance and
availability of family support were seen
as very important factors for workers to
remain in FIFO arrangements, however
only 2 per cent had been involved in an
induction of family members into the FIFO
lifestyle,” Ashby explains.
“Greater preparation for FIFO, induction
and ongoing support for workers and
families will help promote satisfaction and a
sense of connection, which will also naturally
lead to greater productivity for companies.”
DRILLING DOWN THE ISSUES
FIFO Families provides social support
and education programs to a number of
resource industry organisations including
Mineral Resources, BGC Contracting,
AngloGold Ashanti and Shell.
Integrated mining and energy services
company Ausdrill has offered FIFO
Families membership to its mobile
workforce since 2011.
About 20 per cent of the employer’s
people fly in and out of the Pilbara and
Goldfieds regions, regional Queensland
and South Australia as well as West Africa.
Managing director Ron Sayers sees it
as an essential piece of the company’s
employee assistance offerings.
“As a business, we are aware the
FIFO lifestyle can put extra demands on
families and individuals, and Ausdrill is
therefore committed to making sure our
FIFO employees and their families have
appropriate support and information,”
Sayers says.
“We offer a wide range of benefits
to our employees including discounted
health insurance, gym membership and
access to a confidential counselling
service through the Ausdrill Employee
Assistance Program.
“We also have a program called the
‘Ausdrill Way’ which funds immediate,
short-term financial support for workers
and their families in a time of crisis.”
While Ausdrill is taking deliberate steps
to support the broad needs of its workforce,
Sayers is disappointed by the level of
negative attention FIFO often receives.
“The resources industry is not the only
sector that has people working away in
something along the FIFO lines, yet it
does seem to get a disproportionate
amount of attention for the issues that
can arise,” he says.
“There are plenty of families in areas
such as defence or agriculture that are
dealing with similar issues.
»
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JAEDON ENTERPRISES
10 Ryan Place, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand.
PHONE
+64 9 263 4566
FAX
+64 9 263 4166
MOBILE
+64 21 190 4690
EMAIL
JSD02702
CALL OR
EMAIL
NOW
FOR YOUR
LOCAL
DISTRIBUTOR
FIRE RETARDANT EMERGENCY
RESPONSE TEAM OVERALLS
Ausdrill
managing
director
Ron Sayers
RESOURCE
PEOPLE
SUMMER 2014-15
|
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OHS & WELLBEING
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