Isolation, disconnection, high voltage.
These are some of the words Lani Hilder used to describe what it’s like to be an employee in the mining industry.
She spent 10 years working in Queensland’s mining mecca, the Bowen Basin.
“I had a really hard time, my relationships fell apart and I drank a lot,” she said.
She turned that first-hand experience into a career, working as a counselor focused on miners and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers and their families.
“There’s a lot of disconnect and turmoil between families, and I’ve seen a lot of divorces and a lot of infidelity,” she said.
Lani Hilder wants better resources and education for industry workers. (ABC News: Scout Warren)
A 2018 study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that psychological distress was significantly more prevalent among remote mining and construction workers than in Australia’s overall population.
Hilder said the situation was further exacerbated by frequent deaths and serious accidents in the industry, which had a “massive” impact on miners.
Four workers have died at mines in Queensland so far this year.
“They’re losing friends,” Hilder said.
A spokesperson for the Queensland Resources, Safety and Health Authority said operators of resource industries, including mines, should be aware of the impact of remote or isolated work, poor environmental conditions, violence, aggression, violence, aggression and other psychological conditions. He said that the law requires companies to manage the risks of exposure to public hazards. bullying and harassment.
“If we find that an operator is not effectively managing psychosocial risks, we will take appropriate regulatory action,” they said.
In 2015, the Queensland Government conducted a parliamentary inquiry into FIFO labor practices in regional Queensland.
The Bowen Basin in Queensland is the center of coal mining in Australia. (ABC Tropical North: Hannah Walsh)
Three of the 19 recommendations aim to address disparities in mental health services for FIFO staff, which the government supported in “principle”.
In response to the inquiry, a spokesperson for the Queensland Resources Council said the Respect@Work portal was developed to “support discussion and prevention strategies to support resource industry workers in Queensland”. Ta.
However, in some cases mental health education on the ground is not thorough enough, Ms Hilder said.
“I think they’re trying, but they don’t have the right resources and the right education to make it concrete and practical for people,” she says.
Ms Hilder said workers needed to know the signs and symptoms of mental health problems and how to deal with incidents and sticky situations.
Experienced PTSD in the mines as a counselor
Neil Davis worked as a counselor in the mining industry in central Queensland for two years.
His job was to look after the mental health of miners, but due to the nature of his job, he himself was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
He said he had encountered “so many” serious incidents in the past six months in the role, ranging from suicides to fatalities.
Neil Davis was a mining counselor in Queensland. (ABC News: Scout Warren)
“I was on the verge of depression,” Davis said.
“Then the anxiety and nightmares and flashbacks got worse.”
His wife, Kathy Davis, also worked as a counselor in the mines.
“Neil was on suicide watch,” she said.
“I go to the mine site [to work] I didn’t know if he would be alive when I got home. ”
Mr. Davis has a clear message for those experiencing similar issues, which he documents in his memoir.
Neil and Kathy Davis have written a memoir about his experiences. (ABC News: Scout Warren)
“There’s always light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
“We all go through something in life, but we can come out the other side if we want.”
Like Davis, Hilder also wants to help those working in the industry.
She hopes to develop a mental health education training program to address these needs and implement it at the mine.
“We know as an industry we really need as much support as possible.” [we] You can,” Hilder said.
