Reaching out and choosing life

Thanks to the brave and lonely woman who just reached out to me. It always makes me think deeply about the choices I and so many other women have made when someone tells it like it is. So to you my lonely friend – if it is not worth the waiting, you are not happy, he is not happy working away and you are both miserable what alternatives are available to you? Can you move, change locations and start a fresh – together?

Choice is such a frightening thing that often we choose not to make it. I watched this Ted talk the other day and it really made me think about the choices or lack there of I make in life. Have we become a culture so steeped in choices that we don’t chose to make many any more and therefore just drift along?

Check out Renata Salecl Our unhealthy relationship to choice  on Ted Talks. – See if it makes you think about choices and the ones we need to make. If FIFO is not working choose to talk about it with your man. Choose to talk about it to someone. Choose to seek out a professional. Choose to make a choice about your life and the way you live it. Choose life. Choose.

http://www.ted.com/talks/renata_salecl_our_unhealthy_obsession_with_choice

What choices have you made lately? Did they challenge your way of life? What have you learned about choice and the FIFO life?

 

Porn and the impact on relationships

I’ve read and heard quite a bit about porn usage and fifo workers over the past two years of my research. In fifo forums across the country and chat rooms put up by the good people at fifofamilies questions are being raised about the issues associated with the use and sometimes the over use of pornography. One executive of a large mining company told me that some men change jobs and sites because there is no or limited access to online material. This he suggested was an issue of access to porn!

My research work of late has led me to investigate the impact that the new era of porn is having on families and our children. Of course this issue is not unique to fifo families but the difficulties of separation and distance make the issue of sexuality and how to manage it potentially more problematic for fifo families.

Here’s an article about the issue that might be of interest to some.

http://thehartcentre.com.au/sex/watching-porn-how-normal-is-it-when-is-porn-an-addiction/

Do you have a story to share about this issue?

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Fore warned is fore armed

 

I met some wonderful international FIFO workers last week on the Crystal Symphony. She was docked in the port of Melbourne.

Today’s report in The Western Australian and on ABC National’s Bush Telegraph give us very little new news about FIFO and its impact on the family but, it does serve to keep the conversation about the impact of FIFO on the family in our minds.

Once again Nicole Ashby from FIFO Families had something interesting and important to say. She called for a longitudinal study that tracks and follows FIFO families across time. Let’s hope this happens soon.

I encourage you to read today’s article and the report issued by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. If this does not suit why not listen to the Bush telegraph discussion?

The Western Australian

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/latest/a/21549261/fifo-families-learn-to-adjust/

The Australian Institute of Family Studies link to the report

http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/papers/a146119/cfca19.pdf

ABC Radio National Bush Telegraph (programs are about 24 hours behind on the net)

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bushtelegraph/

Keeping your head screwed on

I’ve been doing other things and FIFO has taken a back seat in my research over the past few month. I’m sorry to say there appears to be little new research being undertaken and no interest from the media in following up FIFO issues.

Today whilst looking for something else I have found a resource that I learned about several months ago but could never find. I first heard about the “Keeping your head screwed’ on resources for FIFO workers and families on radio and loved the following about them:

* They were written by FIFO workers for FIFO workers

* They were written for men by men

* The ideas are presented in several ways, book form, audio book and blogs.

This tool kit can be purchased on line and is very good value for $20.00 per item.

 

See the link below and check them out.

http://communitywellbeingmedia.com/Community_Wellbeing_Multimedia/Store.html

 

Brisbane FIFOconnections christmas party

When people make life work for themselves by opening up and sharing what they need and what they want they end up helping not only themselves but others as well. An essential element of sharing is being open and vulnerable.  Being open and vulnerable in particular can be quite difficult if it is new or if you feel you SHOULD be able to cope or do it all on your own. However it’s funny what happens when you do put yourself out there, Ironically,   if you begin to open up and be a little vulnerable by asking for what you need or sharing authentically about how you feel it gets easier and easier the more you do it.

Not only does it get easier to share it gets easier to ask for help. We all need to ask for help when we need it and sometimes even when we don’t. Sometimes helping someone else gives another person more joy than you can imagine. Random acts of kindness or help are good for people and good for the soul. Across our community we need to help each other out more often but particularly we need to help out more in the FIFO community when there are so many people trying to do too much on their own.

One person who has asked for some help lately is Beck Meade. She has started FIFOconnections to bring together FIFO people in the Brisbane area. Beck has contacted me several time and shared ideas and thoughts about FIFO life. Today I’m helping to spread the word about FIFO connections and the good work they are doing to support FIFO families in the Brisbane area. In particular I want to share some information and to let you know that they are hosting a FIFO connections Christmas party on Sunday 1st December. I understand that this is a free event and all Beck needs is for any interested FIFO family members or workers to contact her so they can cater for the numbers.

Sounds like the kind of sharing experience we all need. Check out their website or facebook connection below for details.

http://www.meetup.com/FIFOconnections/

A message from Beck at FIFO connections – FIFO Connections family Christmas party is next Sunday, the 1st of December, in Brisbane. We extend a warm welcome to all FIFO fly in fly out worker’s, Spouses, their families and of course your FIFO worker if they are home.
As this is a catered event we request that any family wanting to come along please RSVP via the events tab in https://www.facebook.com/groups/FIFOmeetups
My family looks forward to celebrating the start of the festive season with yours xx

Have you helped someone lately? If so why and how did it feel? Could we give out less presents this Christmas and more random acts of kindness instead?

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Write letters for well being – the FIFO snail mail revolution

Science Network Western Australia reported today that a new research project is being undertaken by Edith Cowan University PHD student Philippa Vojnovic to determine why FIFO workers are suffering from a range of illnesses and mental health issues at a higher rate than the average Australian.

Ms Vojnovic will collect data from 250 FIFO workers from areas across WA including Perth, Karratha and Kalgoorlie starting at the end of 2013. It’s great to see another research project will document what we all know is going on in the lives of FIFO workers. It is my hope that with the rigor and relevance of an academic project to measure information that we out here know already to be true – the issue of support for workers and their families will become part of the workforce/industry standards in the future.

Things like – after work privacy, better phone connections, personal growth opportunities after work and building strong relationship training, the use of short meditations at work (see free phone app: Smiling Mind), light healthy food, more family friendly rosters and annual family visits to sites -things like this might boost moral, increase productivity and save millions of dollars and a lot of heart ache in the process.

http://www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/industry-a-resources/item/2522-psycho-social-look-at-resources-workforce.html

http://smilingmind.com.au/

If only a tiny portion of the said $6 billion dollars that poor well being costs the industry was spent on improving the lives of workers and their families I’m sure it would reap great rewards for productivity, the workers economic and emotional lives and the society as a whole.

We must begin to broaden our understanding of what cost is – and consider that the cost of unhappiness or low well being is far more than $ 6 billion dollars per year. Some costs are not economic but social, family and personal and the negative impact of these costs cannot often be measured in a short time.  The cost of human unhappiness and poor well being seeps quietly into individual lives, families, homes and our society as a whole – for generations to come.Time to measure life through a broader range of filters and take the monetary blinkers off.

I have a suggestion today to improve well being for FIFO workers and their families. Let’s bring back the hand written letter. It sounds too simple but it is a powerful and very accessible way of doing something positive and personal right now! I know that when I receive a hand written letter in the mail I am thrilled that someone has taken the time to sit down and write to me.  Can we start a little project that does our bit to bring joy, love and old fashioned happiness back into the lives of someone we love? Could we start a small wave of positive well being and write a letter to someone today? On real paper? With our own hand? Sent in the mail? Why not? Let’s start a revolution of well being and write a letter to someone we love.

Let me know how you go.

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Tony Windsor’s sad words

Today I gathered in the Melbourne Town Hall with 2,000 other folks who were interested in hearing our first female Prime Minister speak about her time at the top. The event was organised by the Victorian Women’s Trust who continues to advocate for the rights of all women across Australia.http://vwt.org.au/

The previous independent for New England Mr Tony Windsor opened Julia Gillard’s address. Tony Windsor you may recall called for the first parliamentary inquiry into the impact of FIFO on regional Australia. He was chair of the standing committee that tabled the report entitled; Cancer of  the Bush or salvation fro our cities,  in February this year.

Tony was funny and gracious in his words of praise for Julia and the speeches from both speakers were interesting if only slightly inspiring ( I expected just a little bit more!) .

After the speeches Tony hung around and talked to people. I spoke to Tony about all things FIFO. I thanked him for doing more to bring the issues associated with the FIFO workplace practise into the public and the parliamentary discussion. We talked at length about the issues good and bad that FIFO work and life style raises in our Australian context. I closed the discussion with a question which asked him who he thought was really interested in the FIFO debate and still held a seat in parliament?   He pondered the question for a moment mentioned Michael McCormack from the National Party adding that he was a good man and would probably take over the chair of the standing committee that he himself had vacated. Then he paused again, pondered a little more and said, well in fact i don’t think there is really anyone who is that interested in the debate. It’s sad to say but no I don’t really think anyone still sitting is really that committed to addressing the issues presented by the increase in FIFO work.

Tony Windsor is an honest man by nature. His wife who we met as we left the building told me that she was delighted with Tony’s slower pace of life and reminded me that she had married a farmer!

Now I’m left with a nagging, slightly empty hole in the pit of my stomach.

Why is this issue now more invisible to government than it was before?

Why is no one interested? Why have the issue/issues of FIFO and the necessary support for FIFO families fallen off the radar? Why?

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Retention Rates new Research out of University of Queensland

The Centre for the Social Responsibility in Mining has recently published the findings of a research project undertaken by the University of Queensland. The study surveyed 286 FIFO workers employed in the Resources sector. 40% of the respondents were women, 70% had university degrees and of this small, well educated cohort a whopping 70% said they would probably change jobs in the next 12 month period!

What is most interesting about the findings is that the majority of the respondents reported that they were happy with their work environment and their roles. They were on the main happy with their accommodation and in general the roster or swing that they currently worked. So why then would 70% change jobs within the next 12 months?

They mentioned – More privacy for after hours down time, Better internet and telephone access, career advancement, better or shorter rosters and for some more money – as the main reasons why they would change jobs within the next year.

These findings echo a newspaper report only last week that suggested the privacy, down time space and an ability to communicate with loved ones ALONE was the biggest issue for most FIFO workers.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-08/fifo-quiet-time/5009744

Surely with the national broadband network weaving its way around the country we could make these FIFO work sites more fully internet and or phone accessible. Or perhaps, resources companies could do their part to make this small thing (access to home base) easier for the FIFO workers and in doing so save themselves and the industry millions of dollars that is currently spent on facilitating job changes.

The extensive report

Factors Linked to the well-being of Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) workers

is a welcome addition to the research on and about FIFO workers in Australia.

http://www.csrm.uq.edu.au/publications/476-factors-linked-to-the-well-being-of-fly-in-fly-out-fifo-workers

Have you changed FIFO work lately? What are the factors that drove your change? What do you think are the main issues for FIFO workers and their families? Let me know so I can continue to explore these important issues. Thanks

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Victorian FIFO workers are growing in numbers

On Tuesday 17th September the Age Newspaper in Victoria ran the story below entitled “Mobile workers in full flight ” in which they highlight the shift toward mobility in the Victorian workforce. As per the report around 14,000 Victorian workers are now FIFO and this number is on the increase daily.

Simon Johanson the reporter from the Age called me to discuss the issues faced by FIFO families and to clarify some details about the issue before he wrote this article. The week before Simon called I sent a feature article I’d written about FIFO Family issues to the Age and although they did not publish my article I am encouraged and grateful that Simon was willing to not only call me to discuss the issues associated with FIFO work but chose to include a discussion about supporting FIFO families in an article that is fundamentally about changes to the commuter traffic in and out of Essendon Airport. Well done Simon!

Mobile Workers in full flight – The Age Newpaper September 17th 2013

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mobile-workers-in-full-flight-20130916-2tveh.html

Simon Johanson

Ballarat worker Leigh Brown’s shift starts as soon as he steps on a plane.

When the former construction worker lands at Newcrest’s Telfer mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia , four hours after boarding a small jet at Essendon Airport, he’s well into his two-week stint.

Now an exploration drilling supervisor , Mr Brown is one of an expanding group of fly in, fly out (FIFO) workers who represent a social shift towards an increasingly mobile workforce in Australia’s eastern cities, despite the resources downturn.

Mining companies Newcrest and OZ Minerals began the charter shuttle service out of Melbourne 18 months ago to ferry workers three days a week direct to the mines. The flights avoid bottlenecks at Perth’s airport and save the mines significant sums, cutting down employee travel times – for which most are paid – and using skilled workers in the eastern states.

‘‘ It’s an untapped resource,’’ says Scott McMillan, the managing director of the listed Alliance Airlines whose 31 aircraft fly 300 mining-related flights a week across the country.

‘‘ The mining growth has settled down but it’s not going to go away,’’ said Essendon Airport’s operations manager, Graham Weir.

When Alliance’s 70-seat Fokker jet arrives in Essendon, it is twothirds full of miners headed for Telfer’s Pilbara goldfields , having departed from Brisbane and stopped to pick up in Orange, NSW.

Most of the 1500-strong workforce who fly into OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill open-pit and underground copper mines come from South Australia, where it is located, spokeswoman Rachel Eaves said. But about 20 per cent live on the east coast of Australia.

Melbourne-based Prominent Hill project engineer Leidy Alvarado is one. ‘‘ I can leave work at three o’clock and be home having dinner with my husband by 6.30,’’ Ms Alvarado said. ‘‘ This gives me much more quality time with my family,’’

About 5 per cent of Melbourne’s 14,000 long-distance commuters head for the country’s nine main mining regions, the Minerals Council of Australia estimates.

The long-distance lifestyle can have a negative emotional impact on families of mining or corporate commuters left at home.

Change specialist and FIFO documentary maker Linette Etheredge said: ‘‘ It’s a social and cultural phenomenon we have to actively address.’’

Staying in touch with an absent partner was one of the most difficult aspects of the FIFO lifestyle, said Fairfield mother of two Emily Van Roo, who recently set up a FIFO Families support group.

Some 213,733 Australians commute long distances to work, half of them in resource-related jobs.

‘‘ It’s a hard way to make a living,’’ Mr Brown says. But the rigours are somewhat offset by free meals, a golf driving range, indoor cricket, pool, bowls, squash court and gym at Telfer’s mine site.

‘‘ You always look forward to having a real meal at home,’’ he said.

sjohanson@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Copyright © 2013 Fairfax Media

Are you flying in and out of a smaller regional airport? Has this shift away from a large domestic airport in one of our capital cities helped to cut down your travel time? How has this impacted your time with your family? What do you look forward to most when you get home?

Let me know your thoughts and please share this blog with your friends by being friends with us on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/fiforesearchproject

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The revolving door

On my daily FIFO alerts I am increasingly seeing jobs adds and opportunities for FIFO house sharing. This shift away from Newspaper reports and or academic research studies has been growing over the past few months. Rarely do I see any mention of new research project or an article that tries to explore the range of issues faced by the FIFO family in any detail. I wait in anticipation for such news!

With this change in mind my thoughts go toward job security, retention rates and the impact these issues have not only on the FIFO worker and their family but also the cost to companies and the industry as a whole when FIFO workers leave a job.

In my own small circle I know of three FIFO workers who have left their FIFO employment this year. Two left because they wanted to have an extended holiday with their family after 12 months full time work. When they requested leave these contractors in WA’s Pilbara were not given permission and told they must resign if they wanted 4 weeks off. In order to take their well deserved break and spend quality time with partners and children they had to either forgo the family time or leave their jobs. The choice for these two FIFO men was simple. Unfortunately for many it is not always that easy.

The other FIFO worker left a senior FIFO position after 12 months because the impact on his family became too great and any financial gains he received from working FIFO no longer out weighed the losses felt by the family. Of this very small sample 1 has recommenced FIFO work in a different state, the other is actively looking for FIFO work in the same state and the final man has made a decision not to pursue FIFO employment again.

This process is quite stressful on the FIFO worker and the family at home. Not only does it raise the question of financial issues/stresses on FIFO workers (especially contractors who do not get  paid if they do not work) the families at home who must re-adjust the domestic budget to accommodate no income or fluctuating house hold incomes but, it also begs the following question …. What is the cost of the revolving door of FIFO workers? What is the cost to individuals, companies, industry and,more broadly, to the community and the Australian financial and social economy as a whole?

Recent mining statistics suggest that 35% of FIFO workers leave their jobs each year. At an estimated cost of $40,000 per change over this is a significant cost to all concerned. If we are conservative and suggest that only 25% of the estimated FIFO workforce in 2013 (approximately 200,000) leave their jobs in the next 12 monthly the cost of this revolving door employment process will be around $20,000,000! Staggering. Serious and Stressful.

In my small and anecdotal research survey the key reason why all three men left their FIFO jobs was clear.  When given the choice between their commitment to family and their commitment to work when push came to shove family came first! Why then is the industry not spending more time and money addressing this core, universal and almost invisible issue around FIFO and or mobility in the work place?  Where are the long term thinkers in this industry and are they awake?

In a piece of Research from 2008 by Anne Sibbel and Elizabeth Zaczmarek  the issue of retention rates and mobility or FIFO work was touched on in a small study about FIFO and its impact on the family, in particular on the mental health of children.  Their findings although now over 5 years old highlight the common issue that determines the success or failure of the FIFO or mobile work life practice in a given family. That factor or success issue is Support! It  is the support and ability of the woman who remains at home to manage the domestic industry and the raising of the next generation of Australians. If these essential elements of the domestic environment are not working and women are not supported then the well being of everyone is compromised.  In its broadest sense this is the sole reason why worker retention is a serious issue and the FIFO revolving door swings as often as it does. The importance of the domestic industry and the health of our future generations is for the main largely invisible still in the funding and planning of future mobile enterprise practices. WHY?? when there are so many ways we could begin to measure the cost of not supporting women, children and the families of FIFO or mobile workers?

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13668800801890129#.Ul8tlySssQU

In the abstract that can be viewed for free of the research the following quote supports the idea that without support the FIFO or mobile lifestyle is stressful and doomed to fail.

“However, mothers from the FIFO families reported significantly more stress than the military and community groups with respect to communication, support and behaviour control within the family. “

An old saying sums up what appears to be invisible still to so many in positions of power in the FIFO industry. ” It takes a village to raise a child” this saying is even more true when families are separated for weeks at a time with FIFO or constant mobility as the work/life practice. What is your experience of the revolving FIFO work door? Has it impacted your family and if so how?

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