Health and related behaviours of fly-in fly-out workers in the mining industry in Australia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO), which entails travelling mostly from the urban areas to stay and work in remote areas for designated periods and travel back home to spend designated days of leave, has become a common work arrangement in the mining sector globally. This study examined the mental and physical health of FIFO workers and described their health-related behaviours during on-and off-shift periods. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with FIFO workers (N = 216) in the mining industry in Australia who completed an online survey. Paired t-test and McNemer’s analysis examined the differences in health-related behaviours during workers’ on-and off-shift days. Logistic regression examined the predictors of physical health and psychological distress status of FIFO workers. Results Workers reported longer sleep duration (7.5 ± 1.5 h vs 6.3 ± 1.2 h, p < 0.001) and better sleep quality (78.2% vs 46.3%, p < 0.001) during off-shift nights than on on-shift nights. Smoking prevalence was 26.4%, and workers reported smoking a similar number of cigarettes per day during on-and off-shift days. Most workers reported drinking alcohol (86.1%) and more often at risky levels during off-shift than on-shift days (57.9% vs 34.3%, p < 0.001). Fruits and vegetable consumption was low but with higher vegetable intake during off-shift days (2.8 ± 1.4 vs 2.3 ± 1.3 serves, p < 0.001). Workers had good physical health status (91.2%), but 71.4% were overweight/obese and 33.4% indicated high levels of psychological distress. Working on long shifts (OR 6.63, 95% CI 1.84–23.91) and smoking (OR 7.17, 95% CI 2.67–19.26) were linked to high psychological distress. Conclusions The prevalence of psychological distress and risky health behaviours was high. Interventions should aim to reduce psychological distress and support multiple behaviour changes, considering FIFO work-related characteristics including long shift hours.

Impact of fly‐in fly‐out work on health behaviours and affective states: A daily diary study

“…Figure 1 outlines the flow of participants into the present study. Of the 216 workers that completed the cross‐sectional study (Asare, Robinson, Powell, et al., 2022), 52 (24.1%) agreed to take part in the present study. Of the 52 participants included in the study, 8 (15.4%) could not be reached to schedule the daily surveys, and 21 (%) did not respond to at least three daily diaries in both the on‐shift and off‐shift phases, which was set as a minimum threshold for data provision for statistical modelling (Figure 1).…”

“…This is the first study to examine affects during on‐and off‐shift periods. Several cross‐sectional studies have indicated high levels of psychological distress among FIFO workers (e.g., Asare et al., 2021; Asare, Robinson, Powell, et al., 2022). FIFO workers, during work periods, are separated from their families and faced with the emotional strain of dealing with being away from families, loneliness and social isolation, anxiety about maintaining family and social relationships and missing important family events (Gardner et al., 2018; Torkington et al., 2011).…”

“…This was a daily diary study conducted among FIFO workers in the mining industry in Australia. All participants that took part in a larger cross‐sectional study of FIFO workers, reported elsewhere (Asare, Robinson, Powell, et al., 2022), were invited to take part in the present study between July and December 2021. All were FIFO mining workers, aged 18 years and above, and work on more than 3 days of on‐and off‐shift rosters during the study period.…”

“…Demographic characteristics and baseline health and health‐related behaviours were assessed as described elsewhere (Asare, Robinson, Powell, et al., 2022).…”

Impact of living and working in the heat on cognitive and psycho-physiological responses in outdoor fly-in fly-out tradesmen: a mining industry study

“…Many workers spend their week off between swings resting, hence the return to work which involves adapting to an early-wake up sleep routine and the general workplace environment at the start of a swing may have negatively affected initial processing efficiency. Asare et al (2022) conducted a survey of 216 Australian FIFO workers and reported that total sleep time on site was significantly less compared to when at home. If sleep time or attention increased over the course of the swing then this may be a reason for improved speed in respect to recall and counting latency.…”