Fly-In-Fly-Out (FIFO) worker’s wives’ workload stress

 Introduction:

Characteristically, FIFO work involves a roster system in which employees spend a certain number of days’ away working on-site, after which they return to their families for a set number of days (Storey, 2010). Workers are therefore away from their local communities and families for set periods on a regular, rostered basis.

Current research literature has increasingly identified the damaging impacts of FIFO work arrangements on parenting, families, and individuals. This is often recounted in the research literature as ‘parenting stress’, ‘conflict’, and ‘relationship stresses. Whether or not these negative consequences of FIFO work arrangements on families are indicative of the existence of higher rates of family and domestic violence in FIFO worker populations is unknown (Govt. of Western Australia –Dpt. for child protection & family support-2013).

In the absence of a father, the mothers perform one of the most difficult mother-father’s tasks, starting early as 5 am and clocking off late in the night just to ensure the house is in order. The mothers are emotionally, physically and mentally over-stress, and require support from their husbands/partners.  

 The FIFO Workers are not aware of the enormous tasks mothers perform on daily basis. The mothers do not speak up just to prevent them from being kicked out of the house, violent relationship, or protect social and cultural values. The FIFO Workers’ wives are living in hell on earth.

•  Rationality.

Conflicting expectations of FIFO parents (eg. parenting/ household tasks, finances) lead to greater vulnerability to feelings of isolation or depression (2013).

 The essence of this paper is to uncover the FIFO Workers’ wives’ workload, emotional and psychological stress, physical gaps and financial needs while men are at the mine-site.

 The FIFO Workers wives are living in hell with overload in the effort to ensure their school kids, houses, animals, and visitors are supported. However, most of the men are not aware of the magnitude of the mother’s tasks due to a lack of education and awareness.

 The rationality of this paper is to educate the FIFO Workers on the tasks wives performed while they are away, so that they provide emotional, psychological and financial support, provide physical closeness and, relieve household tasks while on field break.

•  Target audience.

This study particularly looks at the Newcrest FIFO Mine Workers’, particularly male Workers.  Most of these workers are highly skilled labour force, drawing from various parts of Papua New Guinea and overseas, and they are work rooster schedule with fixed field break days.

• Objective(s).

1. Is to educate Newcrest Mine Workers or any other mining industries to understand the important work mothers perform while they are absent from home.
2. Is to educate Newcrest Mine Workers to understand wives financially, emotionally, psychological stress and physically gaps so that they support their wives while onsite and offsite – field break.
3. Is to create supportive and happy families’ homes for ALL Newcrest Mining Limited Workers/other mining workers.

• Who should implementation the FIFO program ?

Any given mining companies can implement family violence through their company’s social license policy framework.  All the corporate organization has a social responsibility to their staff welfare and those surrounding communities.

• Delivery strategies.

Such a program of high importance should be owned and institutionalized within Occupational Health and Safety department with support from other departments like community affairs. 

Following is five strategic roadmaps on which this project will be embarking.

• Tool Box Meetings.

It’s company policy that every morning, a toolbox is conducted where tasks are delegated to Workers.  This is the ideal forum to deliver a very quick brief educational awareness about the 12+ wives workload.

•  Safety Meetings.

The Safety meetings are longer than the toolbox meetings.  The safety meeting forum provides huge potentials to deliver detail educational awareness about the 12+ wives workload.

•  Pe-Employment Induction Training.

The pre-employment training also provides greater opportunities to deliver to the new employees so that they can learn and grow with the company’s business goal.

• Company Organize Meetings.

This program can be easily integrated into various company’s training and community awareness programs.

•  Newcrest Mine FM Station.

The FM radio station provides a greater opportunity to disseminate the educational messages to project impacts areas where the radio frequency reaches. 

•  Who will deliver this training?

This program can be delivered by Occupational Health & Safety department and others departments that the company cogitate necessary. 

The program will be institutionalized within the Occupational Health & Safety department, and the training will be conducted on the job training. The Officers will conduct the prevention of domestic violence using the above delivery strategies.

FIFO Worker’s Wives’ Perform 12+ Overload Stressful Tasks:

Many studies indicated that the return to home and departure to work points in the FIFO roster are times of high stress, as couples and families prepared themselves for the impending separation from the FIFO worker in the days leading up to their departure, and subsequently adapting to having the worker home again (CFCA PAPER NO. 19 2014). 

The subsequent recurrent absence and presence of the worker impact family relationships (2009).  

According to Jill, C, T & Janette G. S. (2009), the impact is felt more by partners with the burden of increased responsibilities and bulk of adjustments falling on them.

 Fathers stepping out of family home automatically creates psychological and emotional stress, a physical separation that creates emptiness at home. The wives feeling the burden of wives 12+ mammoth tasks build up more anxiety and stressful life.

Fathers stepping into the home do not realize the already drained, and fragile mothers. Most fathers think what they bring in home is important than what mothers do while they are away. They fail to realize how drained fragile their wives are.

Hence, it is important for all fathers needs to know the followings 12+ overload FIFO Worker’s wives’ home task.

 Food:  The mothers’ primarily daily focuses is on kid’s food and home.  It’s not easy to gather food for families. Mother goes into bush gardens, markets, stores or at the waterfront fishing just to ensure food is on the table.  After the food is gathered, they stay in the kitchen to ensure a dinner is prepared. Mothers know what receipt is best for their children, and how they prepare food that will suit the kid’s appetite.

 Cleanness of Home:  Mothers ensure the surrounding of the house is neat and tidy like a flower garden, the backyard is clean up, inside the kids mess up the place like throwing the days used clothes, eating utensils left on the table or living rooms, toys, books and pencils lying all overall the place and list go on. Mothers call the night off when all is done.

 Educators: The mothers are number educators and the greatest influencer of mankind. The mothers teach their children everything that they consider important to the development of their children.   They teach them arts & crafts, cooking, social skills, do dishes, bible teaching, how to look after domestic animals etc.  Mothers teach their child how to behave in public, and anything and everything important for them.

Mentors:  The children encounter many problems, whether it’s big or small it’s a problem to them. The first person to report is their moms. Moms take every issue very seriously.  Mothers deal with straight away by touching the wounded hearts, and their troubles may come in different size and forms.

The mother touches those wounds with a caring tender heart, and that is why they’re the best counsellors. They may be bullied or fail their academic papers, mothers know how to touch their kids. The mothers raise them from their feet, mend and heal their broken spirits. They infuse extra energy into their lives and navigate their future with great insight. 

Health Workers: The mothers are the first to diagnoses children’s medical illness. When kids are down with fever, flu, diarrhoea, vomit, or any medical conditions, they provide immediate systematic nursing care to stabilize the condition. The mothers provide significant health care than any medical professional for no reward. The best doctor in this world is a mother and no words can explain the degree of healing care and support they give to their children.

Peacekeepers: The mothers are good at building a social relationship so they attend to community issues. For example: Recently a mine Worker’s child was blamed breaking another man’s car glass. The mother was extremely under pressure to deal with the issues.  She attended mediation meetings, pay the damage, and then reprimand the child. Finally, the issue was solved before the father arrives home for a break.

Event Organizer: Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, new year celebration, buying gifts, school events, community programs, local traditional festival days, mothers and children’s days and the list goes on, mothers ensure, their calendar is fully booked, and ensure it delivered.

Transporters: Most PNG mothers do not have cars but they have two legs to ensure kids are taken to school, health clinics, local children’s sports activities, church, local markets, stores, and social/cultural events that are happening within the community.

Laundry machine:  Most mother in the villages and rural areas, they do not have electricity so they do not have washing machines. Their hands are washing machine. You know how kids change, it can be three-four times a day. They do not put their used clothes in right place but throw them anywhere within the house, sometimes outside the lawn. The mothers collect them and keep them in the laundry bucket. The mothers plan the right time to do the laundry.

 Mothers’ eyes are sharps as an eagle on any stain, so they are very detailed in their laundry.  After the laundry is down, they fixed and put them in right place for use. Even the clean ones, the children without care pull them out from the storage places and it’s all in mess, but mother ensures, the house is always in order.

 Accountants:  The mothers’ enricher of human lives. They have inbuilt blueprint abilities to enlarge the little things they have. Most FIFO fathers give little money to their wives but mothers manage what is given to ensure the children’s needs are satisfied. They manage the finance, even to the point of teaching their kids how to be a good accountant. They find themselves stressed doing up the limited budget to keep the house going on.

 Organize Social Activity:  The mothers become kids’ social learning institution. They are powerful people who have inbuilt blueprint abilities that can organize socially enjoyable activities. They create fun and a pleasant social world so that they feel good about themselves. The mothers organize fun games, reading bible stories, storytelling, cooking, dart game, take them to the side pool etc.

 Influencers:  The mothers directly influence the world we live in, ensure children are drilled with socially acceptable behaviour before discharging them into the open world. Even the kids are grown up but mothers will still put some final touches to smoothen their behaviours. 

 12+Mothers: The GREATEST TEACHERS, COUNSELORS, PHYSICIANS, and ALL WORKS OF PROFESSION. The mothers are the HEROES of ALL time. They are WORLD CHANGER, POWERFUL INFLUENCERS and their SPIRIT LIVES FOREVER in ALL their children and the GENERATIONS. They’re HEROES of HEROES. So, let’s say THANK YOU, MOTHERS.

• Summary

The FIFO Workers wives’ tasks are underrated yet highly stressful. The FIFO Workers understanding of their wives should support their families thus achieve happy and fun family life.

•  Reference Lists.

1.Aileen, H. and F. McKenzie (2013), Department of Transport, FIFO, Flexibility, and the Future: Does becoming a Regional FIFO source community present opportunity or burden?  Planning and Local Infrastructure, Victoria and Curtin University, Australia.

 2.Government of Western Australia, Department for Child Protection & Family Support (2013). Fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) and family and domestic violence: An exploratory study of the association between FIFO work arrangements and family and domestic violence, Australia.

 3.Jill, C, T & Janette G. S. (2009), Family Stress and Coping in the Fly-in Fly-out Workforce, Monash University, Australia.

 4.Storey, K. (2010). Fly-in/Fly-out: Implications for Community Sustainability. Sustainability, Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, Canada.

 5.Veronica, M., Penelope, R., & Elly R. (2014), Fly-In-Fly-Out Workforce Practices in Australia, The Effects On Children and Family Relationships. Australia.