Driving cultural change, workplace respect and safety in the mining industry
22 June 2022
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The terms respect and safety are often used when talking about workplace culture, however, it’s important to consider what they mean and how an industry, especially those under the media spotlight, like the mining industry, can truly create a safe, respectful and inclusive culture for their people.
In regard to those focus industries, on the 23rd June 2022 the WA Parliamentary Community Development and Justice Standing Committee tabled its report into its inquiry into sexual harassment against women in the Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) mining industry (referred to as the 'Inquiry').
During the Inquiry, details of concerning sexual assaults and significant ongoing sexual harassment were publicly revealed. The experiences, shared in the Inquiry, have been further brought to light following Rio Tinto’s decision in February 2022 to publicly release their own independent review into sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination in the ‘Everyday Respect’ report. This report provided further insight into some of the unique risk factors facing the mining industry in tackling discrimination and harassment and creating a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.
As the mining industry prepares to respond to the findings of the Inquiry, we explore five principles critical to ensuring that responses drive genuine cultural change.
1. Understand the specific risk factors in your organisation
According to the Australian Human Right’s Commission’s 2018 survey, the mining industry has the fifth highest prevalence rate of workplace sexual harassment. While it is likely that many mining organisations will report similar findings of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination, these issues may present in different ways in different organisational and operational contexts.
According to the Australian Human Right’s Commission’s 2018 survey, the mining industry has the fifth highest prevalence rate of workplace sexual harassment.
Taking the time to understand the unique risk factors in your business and across your sites is crucial in implementing an effective prevention and response framework. For example, many mining organisations may have shifts at non-standard working hours, or may not have appropriate facilities on site for women (e.g. lockable bathrooms).
It is important to consult with a range of people across the organisation to understand their experiences, ensure interventions are tailored to address specific challenges, and meet the different needs of diverse groups. Engaging employees and contractors is central to designing and implementing an effective response, and allows different operational settings to be tested. It also creates buy-in across the organisation, which ensures everyone understands and takes ownership of their role in creating a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace.
2. Enlist appropriate change management support
We have worked extensively with organisations implementing recommendations following independent reviews into culture and behaviour. It is common for an implementation taskforce to slip into the detail of the recommendations, yet losing sight of the overall objective.
It can be relatively easy to comply with the form of a recommendation, for example, to implement a flexible work policy, however, it is harder to deliver on the intent of a recommendation - creating an enabling environment, where flexible work is supported and employees empowered to utilise it.
After the release of the Inquiry’s report, organisations should focus on developing a comprehensive change plan to support the broader, holistic intent of recommendations to create a safe, inclusive and respectful work environment and ensure they are focusing on the areas that matter.
3. Leverage existing systems and processes where possible
Working to prevent and more effectively respond to issues of inappropriate behaviour is not about simply developing or refining a workplace policy. It is about looking at ways to integrate action, evolve behaviour, communicate values and expectations, identify role models and reinforce accountability at multiple touchpoints across the employee experience.
In addition to standalone policies, integrating action on inappropriate workplace behaviour into existing systems (e.g. performance management), processes (e.g. induction, site orientation), capability uplift (e.g. leadership and management core capabilities), and communications (e.g. safety shares) helps embed and reinforce expectations and accountability on an ongoing basis.
4. Leading with courage and empathy
As expectations of organisations evolve, so do our expectations of leaders. Leaders and frontline managers, such as territory and site leaders, are at the forefront of creating a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for their people.
Leaders set the tone and shape the culture and need to be role modelling behaviour, holding their people to account and communicating transparently the steps they are taking to respond to sexual discrimination, harassment and assault.
Frontline managers, including site and territory leaders, shape the experience of all those who work with and around them, and their attitudes and behaviours are highly influential. The leadership shadow and cultural footprint cast by this group cannot be underestimated.
It is essential to equip this group, through increased education and awareness, with a deep understanding of the issues, the ability to identify and mitigate risks, the capability to immediate action to ensure safety and minimise harm, and finally, the support to respond with empathy is essential.
5. Going beyond compliance
The recommendations coming out of the Inquiry should simply be the minimum basis for organisations to reimagine what is possible for their people. Organisations should seek to exceed expectations when it comes to a safe and inclusive environment for their people - openly sharing information and collaborating across the industry to be pioneers of change. For organisations seeking to invest the time and resources to go beyond, the rewards are many.
The importance of creating psychologically safe environments where employees feel safe to speak up is fundamental in preventing and responding to sexual harassment.
The stories of sexual assault and harassment that have been disclosed during the Inquiry reflect courageous women speaking up about traumatic experiences. The mining sector’s response also needs to be courageous - in openly discussing what went wrong, and investing significant time, resources and leadership commitment to ensuring that their workplaces are safe, respectful and inclusive.
The time to act is now.
If you would like to discuss any of the findings from the Inquiry or how we can help your organisation, please contact one of our Diversity and Inclusion specialists.
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Elizabeth Shaw
Partner, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consulting, PwC Australia
Tel: +61 402 853 852
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