Abstract
Sufficient knowledge on the work productivity impact of the health of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers in the mining sector in Australia is lacking. This study examined the impact of health and lifestyle behaviours on the work productivity of FIFO workers in the mining industry in Australia. FIFO workers completed an online questionnaire on health and work productivity loss measures. Linear regressions were used to model annual work productivity losses through absenteeism, presenteeism and total productivity loss. Workers with a high risk for health conditions were, on average, associated with 3.87% more productivity loss (absenteeism: 1.27% and presenteeism: 2.88%) than those with low risk. Workers who had multiple health risks classified as medium (3–4 health conditions) and high (5 or more health conditions) reported 1.75% and 7.46% more total productivity loss, respectively, than those with fewer multiple health risks (0–2 health conditions). Health conditions were estimated to account for an annual additional productivity cost due to absenteeism of AUD 8.82 million, presenteeism of AUD 14.08 million and a total productivity loss of AUD 20.96 million per 1000 workers. FIFO workers with high health risks experience more absenteeism, presenteeism and overall productivity loss. These measures provide strong economic justifications that could support the need for targeted workplace health interventions.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 10056 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 16 |
Early online date | 15 Aug 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The study was funded by the Aberdeen-Curtin Alliance International Postgraduate Research Scholarship and Research Stipend Scholarship of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland and Curtin University, Australia, awarded to Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah Asare (Curtin ID: 17619778; Aberdeen ID: 51987326). Mineral Resources Limited, Australia also supported the study by providing AUD 200 shopping voucher to the winner of a raffle draw as reimbursement for study participation. Mineral Resources Limited played no role in the design of the study, data collection and analysis, interpretation of study findings, preparation or decision to submit this manuscript for publication.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to Mineral Resource Limited, Australia, for supporting the study and to all FIFO workers for participating and contributing to this study.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to ethical and privacy restrictions but are available upon request from the corresponding author on reasonable request.Keywords
- absenteeism
- FIFO
- health
- mining
- presenteeism
- productivity loss