Living FIFO: the Experiences and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Western Australian Fly-In/Fly-Out Employees and Partners

Edith Cowan University Research Online Theses: Doctorates and Masters Theses 2010 Living FIFO: the experiences and psychosocial wellbeing of Western Australian fly-in/fly-out employees and partners Anne M. Sibbel Edith Cowan University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses Part of the Industrial and Organizational Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Sibbel, A. M. (2010). Living FIFO: the experiences and psychosocial wellbeing of Western Australian fly-in/ fly-out employees and partners. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/132 This Thesis is posted at Research Online. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/132 Edith Cowan University Copyright Warning You may print or download ONE copy of this document for the purpose of your own research or study. The University does not authorize you to copy, communicate or otherwise make available electronically to any other person any copyright material contained on this site. You are reminded of the following: Copyright owners are entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. A reproduction of material that is protected by copyright may be a copyright infringement. Where the reproduction of such material is done without attribution of authorship, with false attribution of authorship or the authorship is treated in a derogatory manner, this may be a breach of the author’s moral rights contained in Part IX of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Courts have the power to impose a wide range of civil and criminal sanctions for infringement of copyright, infringement of moral rights and other offences under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Higher penalties may apply, and higher damages may be awarded, for offences and infringements involving the conversion of material into digital or electronic form. Living FIFO: The Experiences and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Western Australian Fly-in/fly-out Employees and Partners Anne M. Sibbel Bachelor of Arts (Psychology, First Class Honours) Diploma of Teaching (Primary) A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science Edith Cowan University June 2010 USE OF THESIS The Use of Thesis statement is not included in this version of the thesis. iii Abstract Using a concurrent multi-methods design employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies this study investigated the psychosocial wellbeing Western Australian fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) mining employees and their partners. The quantitative phase of the study assessed the psychological wellbeing, relationship satisfaction and perceptions of family function of 90 FIFO mining employees and 32 partners of FIFO employees using the General Health Questionnaire 12, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Family Assessment Device. Analyses revealed that both FIFO employees and their partners are within the norms for healthy functioning on the scales and sub-scales of the measures of psychological wellbeing, relationship satisfaction and perceptions of family function, and that there were no statistically significant differences between the scores of the two groups on any of these measures. Further, there were no significant differences when data were analysed according to family type or profile of absence. Thus, despite perceptions that regular FIFO employment related absence would have adverse impacts on various aspects of wellbeing, the group of FIFO employees and partners in this study report similar levels of psychological wellbeing, relationship satisfaction and perceptions of family function to those of the general Australian population. The qualitative phase used constructivist grounded theory methodology to explore the experiences of FIFO employees and partners of FIFO employees in order to develop an understanding and theoretical scheme of the role of contextual factors in their adaptation to the FIFO lifestyle. In-depth interviews were conducted with a medium sized sample of 16 FIFO employees and 12 partners of FIFO employees. The findings from the qualitative phase are discussed in light of existing literature and the findings from the quantitative phase. The data revealed a number of individual, family, community and workplace factors that impact on individual experiences of and adaptation to the FIFO lifestyle. Informants generally made purposeful and informed choices to undertake FIFO employment based on the notion that “the benefits outweigh the costs”, that the lifestyle associated with FIFO employment would considerably increase individual and family access to financial and psychosocial resources, and that the net gains in personal and family resources would outweigh any losses. These findings challenge earlier presumptions that the regular absences associated with FIFO employment would result in a loss of individual and family resources and would impact negatively on the iv psychosocial wellbeing of FIFO employees and their partners. The strengths and limitations of the study are outlined as are suggestions for future research. Implications of the findings at the individual, community, corporate and government levels are presented together with recommendations for future actions. v Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) Incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) Contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis; or (iii) Contain any defamatory material. (iv) Contain any data that has not been collected in a manner consistent with ethics approval. Signature Date June 2010 vi Acknowledgements I take this opportunity to acknowledge the very generous assistance and support given to me by many people throughout the long journey and without whom this thesis would not have been completed. Although much of this PhD was spent in front of a computer thinking, analysing and writing, it is the people who made the process achievable and in the end truly worthwhile. My grateful thanks are extended to those fly-in/fly-out mining personnel and their partners who willingly participated in this study; your generosity in sharing your experiences and insights made this study possible. Thank you also to those mining companies who allowed me to approach their employees to be part of the project. I trust the shared experiences have been delivered meaningfully and with understanding. I also thank my supervisors Dr Elizabeth Kaczmarek and Dr Paul Chang who willingly shared their expertise and knowledge throughout the research process. Elizabeth, in particular I want to thank you for your unfailing encouragement, support and advice. Our in-depth discussions have made this an extremely rewarding experience. Thank you Paul, for your careful reading and thoughtful comments and feedback of the project. To my special friend and colleague Diane Broderick, thank you for being there, for encouraging me and having faith in me. My thanks also go to my colleagues in the field of community psychology. Being part of a group which has its roots in social justice is inspiring and I value having had the opportunity to work with you all. We have chosen to work in a discipline of psychology that has much to contribute to ensuring the wellbeing of our communities, however community psychology is not widely recognised or understood in society and is thus underused and under-resourced. Our challenge is to make opportunities to share who we are and what we do. And finally thank you to my wonderful family, Kate, Jocasta and Nicholas, their partners and children who unfailingly supported and put up with me throughout this process. In particular, to my ever patient, loving and supportive husband Frank, you have been so generous with your wide experience and knowledge of mining. You have vii shared with me the high times and sustained me through the low times that are inevitably part of undertaking such a project as this. Thank you. viii Table of Contents Living FIFO: The Experiences and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Western Australian Fly-in/fly-out Employees and Partners .......................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................... iii Declaration ....................................................................................................................... v Signature .......................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................... 1 Setting the Context .......................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2 FIFO Work Practices .................................................................................................... 6 FIFO: The practice .................................................................................................... 9 Significance of this Study ..........................................................................................

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