COVID-19: Miners brace for absenteeism ahead of WA border reopening Danielle Le MessurierThe West Australian
Wed, 19 January 2022 10:49AM
A “worst case scenario” for COVID-related absenteeism in the resources sector could see up to one in five workers taken out by the virus, but experts say 7-8 per cent is a more likely figure. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian
A “worst case scenario” for COVID-related absenteeism in WA’s powerhouse resources sector could see up to 20 per cent of the workforce forced to isolate or take sick leave after borders reopen.
Gaston Carrion, talent and organisation lead for Accenture’s resources practice in Australia and New Zealand, said that was in line with recent experience in Queensland across all sectors with large workforces hit by virus outbreaks.
“Most of the miners are planning for that same level, about 15-20 per cent absenteeism . . . but the likely scenario may be between 7-8 per cent,” said Mr Carrion, who works closely with human resources officers in the mining industry.
“I think they (miners) have very comprehensive plans to manage the situation so the production levels will be highly maintained.”
BHP on Wednesday in its iron ore guidance said the proposed easing of WA’s border restrictions on February 5 “may introduce some short-term disruption to the operating environment as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves in the State”. Miners have taken it upon themselves to scenario plan and introduce detailed COVID-19 management plans. Credit: Danella Bevis/The West Australian
The miner also said workforce absenteeism arising from the Omicron strain over east was hitting metallurgical coal and “is anticipated to continue into the early part of the second half of the 2022 financial year”.
Rio Tinto on Tuesday also conceded it faced a tough few months, with the lifting of border restrictions expected to compound existing labour shortages.
“Talking to people on the east coast, and obviously at other Rio operations around the world, certainly the experience has been a spike in absenteeism and we can’t imagine that we are going to be immune from that in the mining industry and we will need to work through those impacts,” Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief Simon Trott said.
Mr Carrion said he expected more resources companies would restrict the number of workforces travelling to site, which is already occurring with Chevron planning to discourage non-essential travel to site until at least April.
He also said organisations were considering moving some workers from remote assets to the base or CBD offices where possible to minimise exposure.
“If you have certain support functions currently on site, perhaps they are going to go back to the base and continue to work from the base,” he said.
Some miners are already restricting non-essential travel to site. Credit: Unknown/Supplied
The West Australian understands miners are growing impatient for the State Government to release guidelines outlining the protocols for how COVID-19 outbreaks on site will be dealt with.
There has only been one experience nationally, which occurred at Newmont’s Tanami mine in the Northern Territory in July last year.
The outbreak was handled by the Northern Territory government and led to the quarantining of about 700 workers, who were forced into lockdown on-site.
Miners have taken it upon themselves to develop scenario planning and detailed COVID-19 management plans that are reviewed regularly to keep the virus out of the workforce.
“We have secured a reliable supply of rapid antigen testing to support ongoing employee screening across our Perth and regional locations, which remains part of our fit-for-work requirement for our people,” Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison said.
“All employees and visitors to site are required to undertake PCR testing and return a negative result prior to entry and we have introduced regular RAT testing for employees at all of our metropolitan work places.”
Mr Ellison said the company had also adopted innovative Bluetooth technology to equip employees on MinRes sites with wearable devices that allow the miner to quickly identify anyone who is a close contact with a COVID-19 infected person.
Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said all personnel must undergo mandatory COVID-19 screening before visiting a Fortescue site or the company’s Hive integrated operations centre in Perth.
She said rapid antigen screening was available at two Fortescue facilities, while polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was available at select private pathology clinics across the State.
“We have ongoing processes in place to contact trace, isolate and test team members if required while at a Fortescue site. We have also implemented additional protective measures at our Fortescue Hive to protect our team members including the use of perspex shields,” Ms Gaines said.
A Rio Tinto spokesman said the miner in December reinstated rapid antigen testing as part of a three-layer COVID-19 screening process at Perth Airport for all departures to the Pilbara.
It also re-introduced the requirement for three-layer screening at regional airports at Busselton, Albany and Geraldton, with Broome and Derby to follow shortly.
“Workers at Rio Tinto’s Operations Centre at Perth Airport are also currently required to undertake the three-layer screening including a rapid antigen test every 72 hours,” the spokesman said.
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