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Mining heavyweight Rio Tinto’s (NYSE:RIO) plan to ban alcohol at its Argyle Diamond Mine has some thinking that incentives to keep fly-in, fly-out workers on site are literally drying up.
The company offered no details about or explanation for the decision, saying only that it comes as Argyle shifts to underground mining.
“Argyle has moved into a new era of complex underground mining and transitioning to a dry camp is an important part of its future operating model,” Shane Johnson, Argyle Diamonds managing director, was quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald as saying.
According to some in the industry, providing mining workers with generous on-site conditions has become unnecessary amid shrinking demand for such workers.
“The spending phase, when the focus was not on costs, is over and companies are now paring back costs to ensure they can produce the returns they’d hoped for,” said resource analyst Peter Strachan, according to the newspaper.
Australian mine sites often have an on-site bar, or “wet mess,” where workers can drink alcohol, socialize and unwind after their shift. But over the past few years, some mines have closed these facilities, citing safety concerns.
“You don’t want drugs or alcohol coming into play when people are operating sophisticated machinery,” Strachan said.
In May, two men died at Western Australia’s Tropicana mine, operated by AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU), following an alleged drunken fight.
Ironically, Rio Tinto criticized strict Western Australian liquor laws in the fall of 2012, saying they would “have a detrimental effect on our employees’ ability to enjoy a quality lifestyle while living and working away from home.”
7 Comments
HardWorker
These reports seem to suggest that these are ‘perks’, hinting that they may be included as part of the wage package.
I can’t speak for Argyle but all the Wet Mess Camps that I have stayed at have charged between $15-$20 for a six pack of mid strength beer and $20-$25 for mid strength spirit cans, not quite bar prices, closer to Drive Through prices but not as cheap as buying it by the Carton or Ten pack,
Not quite a ‘Perk’ of the job in my books.
Also the Wet Mess (usually includes a shop for smokes, chips, cans of coke, lollies, shampoo etc.) is probably breaking even, maybe even making a small profit, not exactly costing a Billion dollar company too much money, either way the workers are giving some of their money back to the Company.
Personally I don’t care about whether it is available or not, I have worked at Dry Camps also, however, there is the Social life to be considered when you are working away, especially if you work in small crews away from site or you don’t have anything in common with others in your crew.
In the Dry Mess (where you eat) everyone has their food and leaves, meeting up in the Wet Mess encourages the interactions, which happens to be one of the things that people struggle with when away from home, ie. loneliness, support networks, etc. it’s not your family but it’s all you’ve got.
Bishop Hammy
In my experience dry camps have always let to drug use which to me is a much greater danger to all involved especially the innocent. Having a company pub allows some degree of control over the volume of consumption but more important engages the workers in a common human experience of socializing and fellowship. Dry camps are a danger based on experience. The notion of safety concerns is superficial at best.
MiningEngineer
This is complete BS….having worked in various sites across Australia and the world, a wet mess is a good way to socialize and relieve some steam after a long 12-14 hour day. Most sites these days make you blow in the bag before you enter site, which is often a no strike policy if you blow over…..and as below it’s not considered a “perk” in anyway as employees purchase the alcohol out of their own pockets…drinking in moderation is fine, and taking this away is like taking basic human rights away of enjoying a very Australian thing to do….this is coming from a Engineer who doesn’t promote drinking but does not condone it either…
minedoubt
underground vs open pit operations – whats the difference in terms of alcohol tolerance? Just be smart about controlling it. If people are caught abusing – whether they’re sweeping stairs or working a jackleg – kick ’em out.
Miner Bob
It must be purely a cost-cutting thing. Unless they are having serious issues related to alcohol on site. Seems a little extreme though…
Hammy
Too many binge drinkers on shiftchange 24hr off period drinking themselves stupid to 4-5am who “if” are chosen to be breathilized and “if” are lucky to blow zero are in no way shape or form going to be performing anywhere near 100% on their first or second nightshift recovering from a major hangover. I fully support the ban and support blanket breath testing every day.
Bishop Hammy
Binge drinkers are alcoholics and should have been screened out as this activity is unnatural in nature. A camp pub has a chance to control this activity if all drinking must be done at the pub. I feel that there is no need for alcohol in the rooms for the simple reason there is no socializing except with the bottle. Again I will state that 5 years in dry camps led to very high drug use which I did not see or hear of in the wet camps. H&S and HR have their heads up there backside if they pursue these policies but then again these are clowns with authority. This in itself is a bad mix.