New Covid-19 vaccine mandate from company with 45,000 workers across Australia

An Aussie company with 45,000 employees across multiple state lines has mandated the Covid-19 vaccine if staff want to keep their jobs.

An Aussie company with 45,000 employees across multiple state lines has mandated the Covid-19 vaccine if staff want to keep their jobs in the coming months.

Mining giant BHP announced on Thursday that all its workers, including contractors, must have two jabs of the coronavirus vaccine in their arm by January 31 next year.

The vaccine status of an employee is now a “condition of entry” for any BHP mining site across the country, whether that be an actual mine or an office.

From the end of January next year, “all workers and visitors seeking access to BHP workplaces in Australia will be required to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19,” a spokesperson confirmed to news.com.au.

For some states sites, the January 31 deadline will be brought forward depending on “local risk factors”, particularly their Mt Arthur Coal mine in NSW.

The news would come as no surprise for BHP workers in Western Australia and Victoria, with new public health orders making it a mandatory condition of employment for anyone in the resources sector.

However, BHP miners in every other state now must also fall into line.

A BHP site in WA. All workers no matter which state line they reside in must get a vaccine. Picture by: Rebecca Le May

Last week, the Victorian government announced that all employees on the “Authorised Worker List” must have had a first dose of a Covid shot by Friday, 15 October “in order to continue working onsite”.

They will need to be fully vaccinated by November 26.

Most of the work on the list involved occupations that couldn’t be done remotely such as agriculture, construction work and television filming.

“Mining workers” were also on that list.

Meanwhile in Western Australia, earlier this week Premier Mark McGowan announced a mandatory jab rule for anyone in the resources sector.

Miners must have had their first vaccine by December 1 and be double dosed by January 1.

It comes after the state has had a number of Covid-19 scares after FIFO (Fly in, fly out) workers caught Covid-19 and travelled between borders.

BHP has as yet not specified a deadline for NSW workers though has indicated it would be sooner than January 31.

WA Premier Mark McGowan at the opening of BHP South Flank iron ore mine on Thursday. Picture by: Rebecca Le May

BHP Minerals Australia President Edgar Basto said “the right path forward” was to trust medical knowledge to fight the pandemic.

“The science is clear that widespread vaccination saves lives,” he said.

“We are looking at a range of practical ways to support that while protecting communities and workforces.”

He also pointed out they work in places with remote Indigenous communities who are particularly at risk from catching the virus.

“We know this raise will questions for some, and we will work closely with our workforce as we go through the process of implementing these controls at our workplaces,” he added.

Queensland — a state which is not in lockdown and currently hasn’t recorded any new Covid cases for the past two days — was opposed to the new rule.

BHP has nine metallurgical coal mines in the sunshine state and the mining union pushed back against the mandate.

“Some of our immediate concerns include fair treatment of casuals and contractors on BHP sites – keeping in mind that a minority of workers on BHP’s Queensland mine sites are direct employees; support for workers with a genuine medical exemption, and paid time for workers to get vaccinated or in case of experiencing vaccine-related side effects,” said Stephen Smyth from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

The BHP headquarters in Melbourne. BHP employs thousands of workers. Picture: William West/AFP.

It’s the latest company of a long list to mandate the vaccine to staff members.

Fruit and vegetable canned food company SPC was the first Australian company to mandate the vaccine for its staff on August 5.

On June 28, the government also agreed to make the Covid-19 vaccination for all residential aged care workers compulsory. Health care workers must also be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Telstra has mandated the vaccine for its frontline staff as has travel company Virgin to its 6000 employees.

Earlier this week, news.com.au revealed that tech retail giant JB Hi-Fi gave its NSW staff less than two weeks notice that they had to be fully-vaccinated in order to return to work.

Other companies have even gone a step further.

Last week, a letter leaked on Facebook revealed that retail giant Best & Less will exclude unvaccinated customers from its NSW stores.

Sydney’s Aria restaurant, owned by TV chef Matt Moran and Bruce Solomon, said it would only be taking bookings onwards from people who were fully vaccinated.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce has also confirmed the Australian airline will mandate Covid-19 vaccinations for all passengers flying overseas, as the country gears up to reopen some international routes by Christmas.

Australian gambling giant, Crow Resorts, has mandated its Covid-19 vaccination not just for its 20,000 staff members but also potentially for its millions of customers.