“some would just rather live in their home communities and so do their families,” she said. “not everyone is prepared to leave extended relatives, their particular cultural community or their existing support networks. those are important.”
safety culture needs to include mental health
valerie o’leary of critical incident stress management for communities (cismc), who also helped with the report, agreed solutions will work only when changes are made to the workplace culture. she felt her concerns were ignored by the industry as she responded to suicides and sudden deaths among transient workers.
“i see safety, safety, safety all over site, which is great. i see the posters everywhere,” she said. “but if someone is struggling in their minds while they’re on the job, what is the point of having these other safety measures in place?”
jason king, executive director of some other solutions, said the mental health organization does not see many camp workers because they often use services in their hometowns. but they have worked with enough to see the lifestyle has contributed to broken relationships, domestic violence and anxiety in children.
“there is a problem and it is unknown—kept very quiet,” he said in an email. “this is a critical study and the mental health for fifo (mental health in general) needs to be elevated.