Mining urged to act on sex harassment
Mining sector ‘needs to take stronger action’ to prevent the physical, emotional and psychological harm caused by harassment.
The mining industry should treat sexual harassment the same way it does any other health and safety issue, according to Minerals Council chief executive Tania Constable, to help combat the “alarming” levels of harassment in the industry.
The Minerals Council will unveil a new health and safety policy document on Wednesday, elevating the prevention of sexual harassment to the same level as stopping workplace fatalities, injuries and workplace diseases.
The policy was sparked by a Human Rights Commission report, released in March last year, that found 40 per cent of the minerals industry workforce had experienced some form of sexual harassment in the past five years, with women more than twice as likely as men to be sexually harassed.
The Human Rights Commission report, Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry, found that reported harassment in the mining sector was well above the average for all workers (31 per cent), and discouraged women in particular from entering and remaining in the workforce.
Ms Constable said the figures made it clear the mining sector needed to lead a “decisive response” and take stronger action to prevent the physical, emotional and psychological harm caused by harassment in the same way it had worked to eliminate deaths and injuries at its mines and in its workplaces.
“Safety is the core value of the Australian minerals industry and a safe and fair workplace is essential,” she said.
“Sending a clear message across the industry and the community that sexual harassment is unacceptable and will not be tolerated will put the sector on the right path for change.”
The changes to the Minerals Council’s safety and health policy, which has been endorsed by the peak lobby group’s members, run deeper than simply sexual harassment, including a commitment to creating “a strong focus on building and sustaining respectful workplace”.
“Every individual, regardless of where they work, who they work for, how they are employed, or the tasks they undertake, expects the same high standard of workplace safety, health and wellbeing,” the policy says.
“All instances of harassment and disrespectful behaviours in the workplace can be prevented.”
Ms Constable said Minerals Council members had committed to working to implement its new policy.
“The industry’s commitment will be implemented through an industry code and toolkit to establish clear expectations and protocols on preventing and responding to sexual harassment in our workplaces,” she said.
Male-dominated workplaces have a higher prevalence of sexual harassment, according to the Human Rights Commission report, and the mining industry has traditionally been a male-dominated space.
While major companies have set targets to increase the representation of women in the workforce, progress has been relatively slow.
In 2016, BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie announced an “aspirational goal” to reach gender equality within its workforce by 2025. Last financial year the company’s workforce was 25.5 per cent female, up 2 per cent from the year before. BHP said 39 per cent of the people hired during the financial year were female.
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