A Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) working pattern entails personnel traveling to distant worksites where they spend several shifts continuously working, residing in company facilities, and flying back home when their rest periods come. In the mining sector, mental health deterioration implies progressive worsening of mental well-being, usually through increased stress, anxiety, or depression.
The stressful environment created by the FIFO schedule is one of the main reasons for the development of the mental conditions described above. The long duration of shifts lasting up to twelve hours along with the compression of the rosters negatively affect the functioning of circadian rhythms, leading to constant lack of sleep and exhaustion (Maisey et al., 2022).
Additionally, the setting of FIFO camps greatly restricts the individuals’ personal autonomy, being an intermediary space between work and home. The individuals can be subject to strict scheduling with respect to eating times, camp regulations, and recreational activities, thus losing control over their day-to-day routine; this loss leads to psychological strain and prevents the detachment from work during leisure time (Fruhen & Parker, 2024).
Social isolation and work-family conflict act as key secondary stressors in the case of the population under discussion. Long-term absence from home tends to affect family life in many ways, causing tension within relationships, missing significant events and moments, and great loneliness on behalf of both individuals themselves and their partners (Bowers et al., 2018). The combination of these aspects of the unique lifestyle together with the masculine culture and the stigma related to it acts as great help-seeking barriers.
The only way to deal with these risks is to develop organisational interventions aimed at making structural roster changes and promoting autonomy. Balanced roster cycles enable employees to rest both physically and mentally compared to intensive schedules. Additionally, giving workers more freedom, better communication, and choice in camp life will safely help to recover the sense of control.
Lastly, it is imperative to create a culture that fosters the well-being of the employees in the workplace environment. Structural interventions like provision of psychological first aid, promotion of safe social connection in the working place, and availability of mental health resources have been found to be very efficient (Brook et al., 2020). Therefore, it is possible to create healthy FIFO workforce in mining organisations by taking care of the tough structural requirements and culture stigma.
References
Bowers, J., Lo, J., Miller, P., Mawren, D., & Jones, B. (2018). Psychological distress in remote mining and construction workers in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 208, 391–397. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja17.00950
Brook, E., Freeman, M., & Ditchburn, G. (2020). The impact of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) on the health and well-being of employees: what organisations can do to mitigate the risks and improve outcomes. The APPEA Journal, 60, 397. https://doi.org/10.1071/aj19146
Fruhen, L. S., & Parker, S. K. (2024). Home and away: personal autonomy limitation in the liminal work context of fly-in-fly-out camps and psychological distress. Community, Work & Family, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2024.2379833
Maisey, G., Cattani, M., Devine, A., Lo, J., Fu, S. C., & Dunican, I. C. (2022). Digging for data: How sleep is losing out to roster design, sleep disorders, and lifestyle factors. Applied Ergonomics, 99, 103617. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103617
