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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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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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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When are industry standards going to extend to FIFO?

We have industry standards for so many things so when will government and industry get together and mandate for some industry standards in the workplaces where mobility is essential? Will mandating for industry standards actually assist FIFO workers and their families to discuss and plan for the tricky issues that crop up in all families but that seem to be exacerbated in the FIFO/DIDO family relationships?  Can industry and government work with stake holders and FIFO support organisations like FIFOfamilies to design, educate and manage the changes that introduction of such standards would demand?

As FIFO becomes the work practice of more Australian’s across more sectors the need for these industry standards becomes more urgent. In 2010 Dr Anne Sibbel made the recommendations listed below in the findings section of her PHD thesis at Edith Cowan University WA. This important research is one of only a few resent research projects looking at FIFO and relationships. It dispels a lot of myths constantly being repeated in the media about FIFO workers and their families.

Living FIFO:
The Experiences and Psychosocial Well being of Western Australian
Fly-in/fly-out Employees and Partners . Dr Anne Sibbel.

In chapter 8 future directions and final words she notes the following:

“However, there are no whole-of-industry standards
that guide or mandate the extent to which individual companies implement such support
practices. As discussed in the previous chapter, the degree of support provided by
companies to the FIFO employees and their families is dependent on various company
related factors such as size, profitability and location of the mine, individual
manager/supervisor practices and each company’s philosophy and commitment to work
practices relating to the work/family interface. Many Australian families will continue to
choose the FIFO lifestyle, thus it is recommended that the resources sector representative
bodies, for example the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), develop a set of best
practice guidelines that individual companies can use as a benchmark to guide and evaluate
the development and implementation of practices and policies that best support the
well being of their FIFO employees and their families. Similar guidelines have been
successfully developed to direct resource companies’ best practice in areas such as the
employment of women (CMEWA, 2008b) and Indigenous workers in the sector (Centre
for Social Responsibility in Mining [CSRM], 2006), and thus set a precedence for
developing a similar benchmark for FIFO employment. Companies could then use these
best practice guidelines to provide regular training for supervisors and managers on the
effectively managing and working with FIFO workforces.”

Earlier discussions in her findings suggest these desired guidelines would ensure that all new FIFO employees and their families are given information that acknowledges the issues that are associated with the FIFO lifestyle. This information can then be used to assist and or support families  to successfully incorporate the changes in their relationship, family, parenting and home life that the FIFO work practice necessitates.

What has been your experience of the support/standards/guidelines provided by your company to FIFO workers and their families? Has there been any and if so did they help?

This issue relates to the focus of the moment which is FIFO and relationships. Abby Chapman’s research survey once again hit the news this week calling for more participants to talk about FIFO and their relationship.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-22/survey-probes-fifo-impacts-on-families/4834512?section=qld

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Survey for the FIFO, DIDO, BIBO worker

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/fifolife

Above is a link to another new study on the FIFO lifestyle.This time the focus is the actual FIFO worker.

FIFO families and WA’s Creating Communities have joined forces to launch this fully independent and confidential survey.  Data collected in surveys like this one will go along way to address the imbalance of research available on the FIFO work place practice and its impact on workers and their families. The survey needs respondents who are working FIFO, DIDO or BIBO to complete the questions.  This will take about 15 minutes. The findings will then be used to help inform companies and community stake holders about how they can best support FIFO workers and their families. Please take the time to pass this on to your contacts and let’s all help get some real data out there so industry, community stakeholders and governments can support the FIFO lifestyle.