20 August 2021

BHP has revealed that it fired 48 employees for sexual harassment at its remote Western Australian fly-in, fly-out mines since 2019. In a submission to a Western Australian parliamentary inquiry, the miner said that between 2019 and 2021 it received six confirmed cases of sexual assault and 73 of sexual harassment at its FIFO mines. Of the 73 cases of harassment, 48 resulted in termination or the permanent removal of the respondent from the company and any of its work sites. The cases included two counts of rape and a further one of attempted rape, BHP said. [...] Rio said that, since January 2020, one reported case of sexual assault and 29 reported cases of sexual harassment had been substantiated at its FIFO operations. “Rio Tinto is committed to eliminating sexual harassment from our business and acknowledges that change is needed to eradicate it from the mining sector,” the company said. [...] “This Inquiry and the circumstances that led to its calling reflect confronting and, in some cases, criminal behaviour that exists in our industry.” it said in the submission. “Our position on this is clear. Sexual harassment is completely unacceptable, contrary to our values, and unlawful.” All substantiated cases were reported to the police except for one, at the request of the victim. Nine reported cases were either not substantiated or could not be investigated to a conclusion, the company said. The figures showed the reporting rates for sexual harassment had “steadily increased in recent years”, BHP said. [...]