Managing Psychosocial Hazards in FIFO Work: A Leader’s Guide

Key Summary

Changing The Culture Through Early Intervention

“Suck it up, princess”.

“Harden up”.

“If you can’t hack it, there are 300 people waiting to replace you”.

Sadly, these are the phrases sometimes used amongst FIFO workers who are struggling with the demands of FIFO work, according to a recent inquiry into the 50,000 FIFO workers in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

While FIFO work usually brings substantial financial rewards, it can come at a price. Along with the physical dangers of working on site, FIFO work carries weighty, often overlooked risks, in the realm of psychosocial hazards.

Picture this – a member of your team is in the crib room, on their third coffee, the WiFi is down, they’re sore after a 12-hour shift, and a simple comment from a co-worker feels like a jab as opposed to a joke, and it’s the third time it’s happened this week.

Change The Game

To drive real change – one where yesterday’s “harden up” becomes tomorrow’s “do you wanna talk about it?” – you need to prioritise early intervention so your workplace can evolve into an industry-leading example. After all, your team’s level of commitment to this directly reflects the maturity of your organisation’s health and safety culture.

So, where do you begin? Let’s explore.

Common Psychosocial Hazards in FIFO Work

Unlike the visibility of a trip hazard or faulty equipment, you can’t always see psychosocial risks, which often emerge from workplace culture, leadership, and environment. Learn more about psychosocial risks here.

Common psychosocial hazards in FIFO work include:

• High work demands: Tight deadlines, unrealistic production targets, and sudden roster changes.
• Fatigue: The juggling of long shifts, compressed rosters, and travel between sites and home.
• Bullying, Harassment, or Aggression: Whether it’s verbal abuse, racial or sexual harassment, or persistent low-level-incivility, these behaviours take a serious toll.
• Isolation: Long stretches away from family and friends, with limited chances for meaningful social interaction.
• Burnout: Feeling constantly overwhelmed, tired, or disengaged, with little motivation to carry on.
• Lack of Control: Being unable to control your work pace, break times, or the environment around you can cause mental strain.

Because of these factors, FIFO workers are at a higher risk of experiencing mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, substance abuse disorders, and even suicidal thoughts.

Blue-collar workers in male-dominated industries are at a much higher risk of suicide than other employed men. The suicide prevention group MATES in Mining revealed that suicide rates are 80% higher in the mining, construction and energy sectors than in the general Australian population, with 190 deaths by suicide reported each year.

Monarch Mental Health Group says FIFO workers are also less likely to report mental health problems, which is likely due to the stigmatisation of mental ill-health that is prevalent in the industry. So, how can we address this?

The Role of Leaders

Under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2020, every employer (PCBU) must protect the physical and psychological health of their workers.

Not only does this mean providing a safe work environment, it also means preventing psychosocial hazards from escalating or arising at all.

As a leader and someone who FIFO workers interact with daily, you are a key player in achieving this. You are well placed to see and hear the changes and hazards impacting the team and intervene early. For a deeper look at what a mature psychosocial risk strategy looks like beyond compliance, our companion piece walks through the model.

Early Intervention

Providing early intervention is the crucial first step towards supporting your crew’s mental health and laying the foundation of your own. Here’s a starting point on leading a mentally healthier team every day:

• Regularly check in with each team member as a matter of course, not just about work but also their well-being.
• Model positive behaviour – manage your stress openly, use breaks effectively, and share how you handle difficult days.
• Promote a culture of safety for mental health, not just physical.

Warning signs to watch for

Most psychosocial issues build quietly over weeks before they become obvious. The point of leader-led early intervention is to notice the change in pattern, not to make a clinical judgement. Some signals that warrant a closer look:

• Exhaustion that does not resolve on R&R, or persistent sleep disruption between swings.
• Increased reliance on alcohol or other substances during downtime.
• Withdrawal from camp activities, meal times, or contact with family at home.
• A drop in work quality, missed shifts, or out-of-character mistakes.
• Irritability, flat affect, or anger that was not there before.
• Expressions of hopelessness, “I can’t keep doing this”, or talking about being a burden to others.
• Repeated physical complaints (headaches, stomach issues, persistent fatigue) without a clear cause.

You are not there to diagnose a mental health condition – that is a job for a GP, psychologist, or the EAP. Your job is to notice the change and start the conversation.

1. Step 1: A private, no-pressure check-in. Ask open questions (“How are you really travelling this swing?”). Listen more than you talk.
2. Step 2: If there is immediate risk of harm to the worker or others, escalate today. That means the WHS officer, the EAP, or 000 depending on severity. Do not wait for the next shift.
3. Step 3: Connect the worker to support. Most sites have an EAP and GP access. Peer-support programs like MATES in Mining train workers to spot distress in their colleagues and run a confidential conversation, not a clinical one.
4. Step 4: Log the hazard in your WHS register. Capture the systemic cause (roster, workload, culture) so it can be addressed without breaching the worker’s confidence.
5. Step 5: Follow up. One check-in is a moment. Repeated check-ins are a pattern of care, and they are what builds the trust that brings the next worker forward earlier.

Practical leader actions, every swing

Beyond the response-to-distress moments, the daily habits that build a mentally healthier crew tend to look like this:

• Set a visible standard. Speak openly about your own breaks, your own sleep, and the way you manage hard days. Younger crews especially read the leader as the room’s permission slip.
• Normalise help-seeking. Mention EAP, the GP, and crisis lines often enough that no one has to be the first to bring them up. Repetition reduces stigma.
• Watch the systemic hazards too. Rosters that do not allow recovery, communication blackouts with family, and lack of decision-making latitude are PCBU obligations under the safety culture framework, not personal failings to be managed worker-by-worker.
• Train your crew on peer-support. Spotting distress is a learnable skill, not an instinct. MATES in Mining’s General Awareness Training (or an equivalent peer-support program) gives every worker the basic toolkit.

If you’d like help managing psychosocial risk on your mine site, start a conversation with our organisational psychologists today.

Frequently Asked Questions