ECU partners with the WA mining sector to create a culture of respect and safety
The Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Centre is an ECU industry collaboration centre that is working with the mining sector to build a culture of safety and respect, which has great potential to positively impact the mental and physical health of those in the industry.
First published by Edith Cowan University
Based in ECU's School of Business and Law, with collaboration with the School of Medical and Health Sciences, the multidisciplinary MARS Centre is focussing educating the current and incoming workforce, training future leaders and driving research.
The Centre is supported through a multi-million-dollar partnership with the WA Government’s Department of Mines, Energy, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) and informs specialist undergraduate and postgraduate taught programs offered by ECU.
Inaugural Professorial Chair in Mining Work Health and Safety ECU's Professor Tim Bentley explains the Centre works collaboratively with the WA mining industry to create mentally healthy workplaces, create a culture of safety and respect, and prepare for workplace safety in future mining.
"A strong focus of the Centre is on developing emerging research talent to ensure that the sector has long-term access to world-class research," said Professor Bentley.
"Our MARS researchers are working closely with industry on a program of globally significant research that seeks to elevate sector leadership capabilities with the goals of improving health, safety and wellbeing outcomes for the sector’s 130,000 (Full-time equivalent) workers."
Hear from Professor Bentley on how this initiative is helping foster a new culture of safety and continuous improvement in the mining sector.
Team MARS
MARS Deputy Director and Senior Industry Collaboration Fellow Associate Professor Kate Blackwood explains that the Centre's team comprises of 25 dedicated researchers and educators with research expertise to help MARS achieve its objectives: to create mentally healthy workplaces, to build a culture of safety and respect and to prepare for workplace safety in future mining.
"The MARS Centre provides a high-performance environment to positively support research and curriculum objectives, so we able to prioritise world-class, industry-engaged research and scholarship," says Associate Professor Blackwood.
Developing novel solutions and interventions to promote respectful and healthy workplaces
Responding to recent changes in legislation that extend the duty of care for organisations to protect workers from psychological harm, the MARS Centre is working hand-in-hand with the mining sector in co-designing interventions that build mining sector leaders' capabilities in the practice of psychosocial risk management as well as creating a culture of respect.
MARS research is working to develop the capabilities of mining sector leaders in creating a culture of respect.
Professor Tim Bentley explains that this novel research includes the design, implementation and evaluation of a psychosocial safety climate intervention to promote healthy work and wellbeing at a systems level.
"A further study tests the efficacy of an intervention that enhances organisational capability in addressing workplace bullying and incivility in the sector as an organisational priority addressed proactively, rather than an interpersonal issue dealt with reactively," said Professor Bentley.
"Our MARS researchers are also working with mining organisations to enhance organisational capability in diversity and inclusion, towards building a culture of respect and advancing critical outcomes, such as diversity management maturity and the performance and retention of sector staff."
Further studies have focused on examining novel approaches to understanding and addressing mental health in fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) work in the mine sector, with a focus on team belonging and building a positive psychosocial safety climate.
Prevention better than cure
It is an old adage but a sound one that has research at its core. A topic very prevalent in the media in the last few years has been the alarming data and stories of women’s experiences of sexual harassment in the FIFO mining industry. In response to the concerning findings in Australian Human Rights Commission (2020) Respect @ Work Report, and subsequent WA Parliamentary Inquiry (2022), Enough is Enough: Sexual harassment against women in the FIFO mining industry, the MARS Centre has been very proactive in its research as it seeks to contribute to the goals of creating a culture of respect in the industry and addressing workplace sexual harassment and other forms of ill-treatment at work against woman and others.
Read more on MARS Centre research under this theme Tim Bentley: Prevention of sexual assault at mining companies better than a cure
Mining the data to understand occupational injury and exposure risks
A set of projects being led by MARS researchers from the School of Medical and Health Sciences are examining critical questions related to occupational exposures in the WA mining sector, notably diesel particulate matter, respirable crystalline silica, and welding fumes.
Associate Professor of Occupational Health and Deputy Director of the MARS Centre Marcus Cattani explains that with a database of almost a million data points extracted from archival and recent data, these studies seek to address a number of globally significant research questions, with aims including the development a WA mining industry wide exposure profile for a range of exposures.
"MARS Centre researchers are using big data from industry partners to design a theory-driven process which organisations can use to help understand their level of injury risk," said Associate Professor Cattani.
"This study aims to improve the efficiency of safety data and information collection and provide useful interpretation of data which can assist the reduction in critical injuries. Furthermore, collaborative research is developing tools and resources to help mining organisations control unacceptable risk."
Partner with us
The MARS Centre is seeking opportunities to partner with organisations in the West Australian mining sector to help improve safety and wellbeing through research and education. Please contact mars@ecu.edu.au for information about our key industry-engaged initiatives.
The WA Government-funded ECU MARS Centre partnership was launched in 2023 to conduct research and educate the next generation of leaders.
