Resilience and Mental Health in Mining

The high level of psychological distress for coal industry workers has been shown to be mitigated by resilience. Although individual resilience has been shown to be important, recent literature has also demonstrated that workplace antecedents, such as structures, policies, and practices, are critically important to build workers' resilience to stress.

In this project, findings from 61 interviews and 610 completed surveys from workers in the Australian coal mining industry are included. Participants were from various roles within the industry and primarily worked in underground and open cut mines. Participants reported how they thought their workplaces could enhance resilience in response to workplace stressors and also on their own experiences of stress and resilience.

Workers were open to discussions around the disclosure of mental health concerns, suggesting positive changes. Job satisfaction, teamwork, social support, psychological detachment, and lifestyle and family factors supported resilience to work stressors. However, some enduring workplace factors, which may be diminishing workers' resilience, remain. It was also found that factors outside work, including societal attitudes, can have an important impact on the capacity of coal mine employees to 'bounce back' after stress.

Through this project's findings, a clearer picture of the factors was found that can support, undermine, and explain variations in the levels of resilience within the Australian coal mining industry.