Abstract
The Australian mining sector has an elevated industry prevalence of stress and high stress related productivity impairment costs. This study surveyed 897 employees from an Australian mining company to identify characteristics associated with: (a) high stress related productivity impairment costs; and (b) likelihood of stressed employees wanting stress management assistance at work. Groups associated with average annual productivity impairment costs in excess of $50,000 per employee included: permanent day shift employees; employees who reported being stressed at work most of the time; employees who reported being stress at work all of the time; and employees who were contemplating better managing their stress in the next 6 months. Overall, 52% of employees who identified as being in the contemplation stage of change for stress management and 52% of employees who experienced stress most of the time reported wanting stress assistance with stress. However, only 33% of stressed permanent day shift employees and 36% of employees who experienced stress all the time reported wanting stress assistance. To achieve a high return on investment when implementing workplace stress management programs in the mining industry, practitioners need to strategically target health promotion to engage stressed employees with high productivity impairment costs and low desire for stress management assistance.
Highlights
Stress management refers to the act of engaging in deliberate strategies to control ones level of stress, chronic stress
Employees who resided in the mining towns were more likely to be associated with higher productivity costs compared to fly-in fly-out (FIFO)/drive-in drive-out (DIDO) employees, Cohen’s D = 0.35
The lower productivity impairment costs associated with alternating rosters, contractors and FIFO/DIDO employment may be related to the roles and responsibilities associated with the different types of employees appointed to permanent day shifts versus alternating contracts
Summary
Stress management refers to the act of engaging in deliberate strategies to control ones level of stress, chronic stress. Managing employee stress is a priority for advancing worker health in the global mining industry. An elevated industry prevalence of stress and the high associated personal and organisational costs of stress indicates a need for workplace health and safety risk management action. In Australia where this study was conducted, research has identified that psychological distress is significantly more prevalent in Australian mining workforces than in the general Australian population [1,2]. In an adult Australia population sample, 11.7% of respondents had Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) scores that indicated high/very high psychological distress [3]. 28% of employees from mine sites in South Australia and Western Australia [1], and 12.7% of employees from mine sites in New South Wales and Queensland [2]
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