Woman working in mining jobs in Queensland detail sexual harassment: Australia

Female workers have revealed the shocking sexual harassment they are forced to endure while stationed on remote Australian mine sites. 

Resources Safety and Health Queensland has been working with unions and the mining industry in a review of occupational health and safety risks, including hearing submissions from women who have been targeted on the job.

Among the submissions are stories from woman who faced ‘chronic sexual harassment’ including one who was urinated on after rejecting the advances of a colleague, another that was subjected to homemade pornography, and a third forced to listen to explicit conversations about her over two-way radio.

Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CMFEU) Queensland President Steve Smyth said he had expected there to be issues with the treatment of woman on site but the submissions highlighted their scale. 

He also backed a Parliamentary inquiry into the industry.

‘We think that people should be able to come forward and give evidence, or at least tell their stories and that needs to be done in a confidential and private way,’ he told The Daily Mercury.

The submissions collected by the CMFEU were the result of a survey of which 625 mining workers responded.   

A quarter had either experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the last 12 months and most felt there was not an adequate processes in place to tackle the issue. 

Some respondents said the harassment or bullying could often be from a supervisor or a friend or family member of bosses and many were afraid to speak up.

Some woman who did speak up lost their jobs. 

In one case a woman said while working at a Central Queensland mine in 2014 she ‘politely’ turned down a co-worker which resulted in his behaviour towards her turning increasingly hostile. 

She eventually told him off and switched to a different shift rotation, but did not make a formal complaint because she did not want to make waves.

But the co-worker then also switched to the new shifts. 

The survey data shows one in four woman have experienced or seen sexual harassment (file image) 

The situation escalated one night at a pub in the region when the co-worker hurled slurs at her including ‘sl*t’ and ‘pr**k tease’.

Security moved him to another section but he continued to yell the insults, leading to the woman leaving the pub.

But once outside, the co-worker followed her, yelling to get her attention.

‘I turned around … and he’s got his penis out he’s pissed on me … He just laughed, he thought it was funny.’

The woman said she felt ‘violated’ and made a complaint to the site overseer – but both her and the co-worker were sacked.

She added at a different job, a supervisor also made unwanted advances and relentlessly quizzed her about her personal life, despite her turning him down.

When she made a complaint about this, she also lost that job.

In another submission, a woman said she had been working at a Central Queensland company in the mining industry when a co-worker and friend of the owners son began playing homemade pornography in the office. 

‘I was just horrified. He’s playing porn that he starred in … They thought it was hilarious,’ she said.

She added he also had pornography as his screensaver and that he would ‘constantly’ question her about her sex life.

The Queensland resources watchdog is reviewing safety on mine sites (file image) 

A third woman who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years said at a site in the mid 1990’s she also suffered ‘constant’ sexual harassment and ‘dirty talk’.

She said driving a mining truck alone at night on the remote site, she would have to listen to the other workers have sexually explicit conversations, often about about her over the two-way radio. 

The experience had affected her whole life, turning her into a social recluse who no longer trusts people, which resulted in her having not married or had children. 

The CFMEU is using it’s submission to propose recommendations including an independent sexual harassment reporting authority and education programs to highlight all forms of bullying and harassment.

Resources Safety and Health Queensland added that anyone employed on mine sites who is experiencing harassment can make a confidential complaint to them and anything amounting to a criminal offence would be reported to police.

Anyone who needs support can also call 1800 RESPECT, the Sexual Assault Helpline: 1800 010 120, or Lifeline: 13 11 14.