Mental Well-Being during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia

Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah Asare; Elizabeth Thomas; Jacquita S Affandi; Myles Schammer; Paul Brown; Matthew Pilbeam; Chris Harris; Chris Ellison; Dominika Kwasnicka; Daniel Powell; Christopher M Reid; Suzanne Robinson

doi:10.3390/ijerph182212264

Mental Well-Being during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia

Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah Asare^* (Corresponding Author), Elizabeth Thomas, Jacquita S Affandi, Myles Schammer, Paul Brown, Matthew Pilbeam, Chris Harris, Chris Ellison, Dominika Kwasnicka, Daniel Powell, Christopher M Reid, Suzanne Robinson

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has devastated the world, and its mental health impact has been recognized in the general population. However, little is known about the mental health impact of COVID-19 on fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers, who are flown to temporarily stay and work in remote areas, during this pandemic. This study examined the mental well-being of FIFO workers in the mining industry during COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia. An online survey was conducted between May to November 2020 among (N = 842) FIFO workers who underwent COVID-19 screening at a large mining company in Western Australia. The mental well-being score among workers was higher than population norms. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests showed significant differences in mental well-being by age, being placed under travel quarantine, undertaking self-isolation, impact of social distance guidelines, and experience of COVID-19 related symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis showed workers who were younger, placed under travel quarantine and experienced two or more COVID-19 related symptoms were more likely to have worse mental well-being. Acknowledging the negative emotions and distress experiences among the vulnerable groups could help in providing suitable support to help lessen these negative experiences in FIFO workers.

Original language	English
Article number	12264
Number of pages	14
Journal	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume	18
Issue number	22
Early online date	22 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212264
Publication status	Published - 22 Nov 2021

Keywords

Australia/epidemiology
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Mental Health
SARS-CoV-2

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Asare, B. Y-A., Thomas, E., Affandi, J. S., Schammer, M., Brown, P., Pilbeam, M., Harris, C., Ellison, C., Kwasnicka, D., Powell, D., Reid, C. M., & Robinson, S. (2021). Mental Well-Being during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), [12264]. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212264

Mental Well-Being during COVID-19 : A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia. / Asare, Bernard Yeboah-Asiamah (Corresponding Author); Thomas, Elizabeth; Affandi, Jacquita S et al.

In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 18, No. 22, 12264, 22.11.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Asare, BY-A, Thomas, E, Affandi, JS, Schammer, M, Brown, P, Pilbeam, M, Harris, C, Ellison, C, Kwasnicka, D, Powell, D, Reid, CM & Robinson, S 2021, 'Mental Well-Being during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 22, 12264. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212264

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abstract = "Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has devastated the world, and its mental health impact has been recognized in the general population. However, little is known about the mental health impact of COVID-19 on fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers, who are flown to temporarily stay and work in remote areas, during this pandemic. This study examined the mental well-being of FIFO workers in the mining industry during COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia. An online survey was conducted between May to November 2020 among (N = 842) FIFO workers who underwent COVID-19 screening at a large mining company in Western Australia. The mental well-being score among workers was higher than population norms. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc tests showed significant differences in mental well-being by age, being placed under travel quarantine, undertaking self-isolation, impact of social distance guidelines, and experience of COVID-19 related symptoms. Multiple linear regression analysis showed workers who were younger, placed under travel quarantine and experienced two or more COVID-19 related symptoms were more likely to have worse mental well-being. Acknowledging the negative emotions and distress experiences among the vulnerable groups could help in providing suitable support to help lessen these negative experiences in FIFO workers.",

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note = "Funding: This study was funded by the Mineral Resources Limited (Australia). Mineral Resources Limited provided AUD 200 shopping voucher to the winner of a raffle draw as reimbursement for study participation. Mineral Resources Limited played role in the data collection, interpretation of study findings, preparation and decision to submit this manuscript for publication but not in the design of the study and data analysis. The study was supported by Aberdeen-Curtin Alliance Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (CIPRS) in the writing of the manuscript. B.Y.-A.A. is a recipient of Aberdeen-Curtin Alliance PhD Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (CIPRS) and Research Stipend Scholarship. Acknowledgments: We express our profound gratitude to the Mineral Resources Limited, Australia for their support in advertising the study and allowing for us undertake this study among their workers. We also extend our appreciation to all the FIFO workers who took time to participate in this study. ",

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ER -

Mental Well-Being during COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study of Fly-In Fly-Out Workers in the Mining Industry in Australia

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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