FIFO DEBATE CONTINUES: PROTESTS EXPECTED

Fly-in fly-out workers may decrease significantly in coming years, as the industry focuses on better health and safety of its staff.

The Central Queensland News snapped photos this week of men power-napping on concrete paths and benches at the Emerald Airport, most likely on their way to or from a stint on a mine.

Queensland Mining Communities president Kelly Vea Vea told the News was unsurprised by the men napping in the cold and said it has become increasingly common at airports with links to mines.

“Well, I suppose I’m not surprised because these companies are forcing people into these FIFO and drive in, drive out conditions without mitigating against the issue of fatigue management,” she said.

The topic of FIFO workers and the effects of the work schedule on miners, families and communities has been a hot topic of late.

While some companies are still employing the majority of their staff on FIFO contracts, the majority are acknowledging that it should be a last resort and mixed in with different kinds of workers.

Gervase Greene from Rio Tinto told Australian Mining earlier in the year that the companies are only incorporating FIFO where necessary.

“We do not see FIFO in isolation and don’t think others should,” he said.

“Its part of the balanced range of options we offer our workforce in the extremely competitive market for labour, and we have found that offering sweet options is much more successful in attracting and maintaining personnel.

Central Queensland University chronobiology and sleep Associate Professor Dr Naomi Rogers told The Central Queensland News the resource industry needs to adopt a standard fatigue management plan to replace current guidelines.

She said guidelines were “a good start”, but urged mining companies to introduce a standardised plan to minimise potential harm and fatalities as a result of long working hours.


“When a worker checks out of their room at the camp for their final shift before they go home, they immediately lose that room when someone else checks in so they don’t have the chance to rest before they drive the seven or eight hours home to their families.”

“The accommodation shortage has a direct link to worker fatigue, and as a result, they are sleeping in cars, on the side of the road, or wherever they can.”

Rogers said the coronial inquest into the deaths of Norwich Park and Blackwater mine workers were the first real investigation into the dangers of fatigue.

She wants the study findings to be presented at the Queensland Mining Health and Safety conference in Townsville later this year to move toward fatigue management reform at mine sites.

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By Jessica Burke on 19 July 2011 For Mining Australia