Tag: R U OK

R U OK?: How workplaces can support mental wellbeing

R U OK?: How workplaces can support mental wellbeing

This article includes a list of resources for mental healthcare and suicide prevention. Australian government statistics show that one-in-two Australians will experience a diagnosable mental health issue in their lifetime. From anxiety to bipolar to ADHD, we all either have something or know someone who does, which is why mental health awareness and suicide prevention is so important to the community — perhaps even more so in mining. R U OK? Is an Australian suicide prevention charity, and R U OK? Day 2021 falls on September 9th. The aim is to start conversations about mental health. On this day, millions in the country are still in lockdown, experiencing unprecedented isolation and profound economic hardship. In the mining industry, mental health...

Road to recovery

Road to recovery

Image: Gez Xavier Mansfield Photography By Elizabeth Fabri HUNDREDS of kilometres from home, far away from the comforts of family and friends lies Australia’s fly-in, fly-out workforce; a high-risk pocket of the population which often suffers through mental health issues in silence. While mining giants drive down injury rates, silent killers such as mental illness are sweeping across the sector affecting more than 30 per cent of the fly-in, fly-out workforce. Fatigue, isolation, alcohol, and unpleasant workplace cultures all contribute, coupled with unavoidable struggles experienced on the home front. But what remains unclear are the pathways miners can take to irrevocably tackle the issue. Each year, more than 2500 people die from suicide in Australia, with three quarters committed by men;...