WA FIFO mine workers could be made to sign sex predator statutory declarations

Fly-in, fly-out workers may soon be required to legally declare that they are not sex predators to work in the mining industry as the industry battles a culture of rampant sexual abuse.

This move has the support of mining groups desperate for the reputation of the beleaguered industry, which has been rocked by sordid stories of sexual harassment, intimidation and assault.

In June, a Western Australia parliamentary report on widespread sexual malpractice in the mining industry, ‘Enough is enough’, was submitted with 24 recommendations, including the introduction of a sex offender registry for miners.

While the state government rejected the idea of ​​a sex predator registry, mining groups believe the next best thing is to have potential employees sign a sculpture statement.

The goal would be to eradicate sex predators that jump from job to job when discovered.

The director of the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Warren Pearce, said it was a step in the right direction for employees to sign such a legal statement.

“We can’t have a situation where someone who has been sexually harassed or assaulted can just leave one company and take a job at the next,” he said.

‘This has matter is by no means an end. Just like physical safety, psychosocial safety and sexual harassment, improving our culture is a never-ending effort.”

While background checks should pick up convicted sex offenders, sometimes investigations are incomplete or ongoing.

The legal statements would likely ask a potential employee if they had been examined for sexual harassment.

However, industry groups should work together to create a standardized form to avoid loopholes and legal challenges.

Despite rejecting the registry, the government will implement other recommendations, such as a 24/7 telephone helpline for victims, a dedicated legal service and new mining housing regulations.

In March, a former stripper lifted the lid on the sexual harassment she had endured over six years in the Western Australian mining industry.

Sasha Chambers became a multiple equipment operator after a career in adult entertainment.

She said the objectification she experienced while working on location was far worse than anything she’d experienced in her previous role.

“I’ve had penises exposed because they cried out loud,” she said 60 minutes.

“I’ve never had penis exposure as a worker in the adult entertainment industry, let alone in any other industry. Why is mining different?”

Ms. Chambers explained that when she worked in adult entertainment, she had the power to protect herself from unwanted advances.

“We don’t have that power here. We have no power in the mining sector,” she said.

Her story was one of hundreds reported in the parliamentary inquiry.

Confidential recordings of more than 200 women were heard.

Astacia Stevens, mother of two, told 60 Minutes that if women wanted to progress and get promoted within the industry, they were expected to “get down on their knees.”

Ms Stevens, who worked on remote mining sites in the Pilbara region of Western Australia 12 years ago, said female FIFO workers had two options.

‘You say yes or you say no. If you say no, you’ll end up like me, you’re a troublemaker, you’re a nuisance, you’re just not getting anywhere,” she said.

“And if you say yes, you get the reward.”

Ms. Stevens claimed that some of her superiors had exposed their genitals to her and then encouraged her to perform sexual acts with them.

In one such case, her boss would have told her that if she wanted “her shirt” – a full-time job in the mines – she had to “get down on her knees.”

When she rejected his advances, she said he made her life a “living hell” by allegedly stalking her, embarrassing her at staff meetings, and harassing her.

Ms. Stevens said her complaints were not taken seriously and she was eventually fired by that particular boss and then blacklisted from other sites.

She said women in the industry felt powerless and at risk of being raped or sexually abused, a reality ex-FIFO employee Bronte Glass has sadly experienced.

Ms. Glass told 60 Minutes that she had to take five pills of the strong sedative diazepam on a doctor’s prescription after she had an allergic reaction.

Despite her protests, she was given multiple doses throughout the day before two men entered her room and sexually assaulted her.

‘I couldn’t move. I was catatonic,” she recalled, adding that she saw flashes going off as if someone was taking pictures during the alleged attack.

The next morning, still dizzy from the medication, Mrs. Glass was put in the back of a car and driven for six hours from where she boarded a flight to Perth.

She still has no idea why she was removed from the site.

She later reported her alleged assault to the government agency responsible for investment complaints, but in November she was told by the WA mine inspector that they had closed her case because no infringement had occurred.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual abuse, call 1800 Respect (1800 737 732).