Energy giant Chevron has denied claims fly-in fly-out (FIFO) schedules are contributing to increased mental health problems among Western Australian workers.
Chevron’s general manager for human resources Kaye Butler today gave evidence to a parliamentary committee examining the issue.
The committee was established after nine FIFO workers in the Pilbara region took their lives in a 12-month period, and is exploring whether mining companies are doing enough to tackle the issue.
Chevron’s Gorgon project on Barrow Island, which lies off the Pilbara coast, employs about 8,400 workers.
Ms Butler told the hearing she had seen no research linking mental illness with fly-in fly-out work.
“I don’t think I’ve seen evidence to suggest FIFO is causing increased stress or increased mental illness,” she said.
“No research suggests the work roster or schedule is directly linked to mental health.”
The committee’s chairman Liberal MP Graham Jacobs questioned Ms Butler on whether Chevron had a fatigue management program in place.
She said it was always examined broadly as a health and safety issue by the company and its contractors, but added fatigue could not always be linked to the FIFO schedule.
“You can’t put one template on every situation … it could be coming from sleep apnoea … it could be a relationship problem,” Ms Butler said.
Union labels FIFO roster comments ‘offensive’
Chevron said so far this year there had been 33 evacuations from Barrow Island that were related to mental health.
“Mental health evacuations are less likely than dental evacuations,” Ms Butler said.
Outside the hearing, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union’s WA secretary Mick Buchan labelled Chevron’s comments as “offensive”.
“You’d have to be pretty naive to think there’s no correlation between FIFO rosters and the health and wellbeing of workers,” he said.
“From the experience of suicides of our members, and the members of other unions, the health and wellbeing of our members … there is a time for change.
“We want to be able to sit down in a constructive way whether it be with Chevron, whether it be with the large resources companies, to be able to work together towards a roster that’s going to benefit all stakeholders.”
Dr Jacobs said he was surprised by Chevron’s evidence.
“What we’ve identified in the committee so far is there are three predisposing factors: firstly separation from family in the FIFO area, the whole issue of fatigue and fatigue management … and the third thing is lack of control, so you go to work, you don’t really go home,” he said.
“There is enough research, we’ve heard from other people who have come to the hearing, and the mental health research centres have provided us with research that shows there is a predisposition to mental illness, there is also a predisposition to impulsive suicides.”
Last year, the state’s mental health commissioner Tim Marney said an increase in suicide among FIFO workers was not surprising because proven suicide risk factors were prevalent in the FIFO lifestyle.