High workforce turnover is eroding the productivity of Australia's mines, causing losses of more than $2.8 million annually at some sites.
This conclusion is contained in a research report released by the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) and The University of Queensland's Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC).
The report, Workforce turnover in FIFO mining operations in Australia: An Exploratory Study, discusses three aspects of staff turnover: its impact, the contributing factors, and strategies for reduction.
Based on case studies of six northern Queensland and three Western Australian mines, the study found that managers needed to be more aware of the negative effects of high workforce turnover on mining operations.
Seven of the sites were fly-in fly-out (FIFO) operations.
The report's principal author, CSRM Research Officer Ruth Beach, said while roster patterns clearly had an impact on employee turnover rates, some mines operating in the same region on the same roster patterns had very different annual employee turnover.
"Apart from rosters, management practices and workplace culture were important factors in why people stay or leave," Ms Beach said.
"It didn't look like other job opportunities pulled people away from their current work, but more like factors in the workplace pushed them out.
"Human resource managers work really hard to find, train and keep good people on site. There's a need for more of this sort of research to help them do that better."
The study found that turnover at the seven FIFO sites averaged 21 percent and was generally highest among professional and managerial staff.
Interviewees generally agreed that employee turnover above 20 percent was detrimental to mine productivity. Despite this, the majority of the mines in the study were running with employee turnover at that level or higher.
Ms Beach said it was surprising to find that none of the participating sites knew how much employee turnover cost their mine.
"We did a quick estimate, using costing methods from studies undertaken in other industries," she said.
"For a FIFO mine with 300 employees and an average rate of employee turnover, a conservative estimate of the costs is about $2.8 million per year.
"This figure does not include the cost of reduced productivity due to the loss of local knowledge and the reduced efficiency of work groups.
"Some managers were resigned to living with high rates of turnover because they saw it as something that was beyond their control, but our research shows that managers can make a difference if they are focused on the issue."
The full report and a summary version can be downloaded from the CSRM's website at: www.csrm.uq.edu.au. A limited number of hard copies are also available for distribution.
Media: For more information, contact Ruth Beach on (07) 3346 9481 or 07 3346 9223 or r.beach@uq.edu.au.; or Brad Turner at UQ Communications on (07) 3365-2659 or b.turner@uq.edu.au
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