The Role of Temporary Camps in Supporting FIFO Workers in Mining
In Australia, the fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) work model has become a significant employment sector, supporting nearly 100,00 workers across a range of industries. Within the natural resources sector, temporary camps have become an essential part of operations, designed to help workers adapt to remote and often challenging environments. Thanks to their modern, comfortable, and highly adaptable structures, these camps serve as a home away from home, offering vital wellbeing support. They also provide scalable business solutions and help companies remain sustainable, whilst creating new employment opportunities.
1.Creating a home and community on site
On-site accommodation at mine sites has to be more than just sleeping quarters— it needs to be a community hub that encourages socialisation and leisure. To ensure comfort and favour socialisation, these comprehensive living environments should offer:
Comfortable sleeping arrangements: Single units or shared, they should have air conditioning, ensuite private bathrooms and appropriate bedding for comfortable sleeping. They can also include storage for personal belongings and workbenches, along with high-speed wifi. This is where workers recharge for their job, and as such, this aspect of accommodation needs to reflect a home away from home.
Dining facilities: All temporary camps should have dining facilities that encourage nutritious eating and cater to all dietary requirements. Most FIFO sites also have dining halls for workers to fuel up and socialise around nice and fulfilling meals.
Recreational facilities: Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is important for ongoing wellbeing and good mental health, and as such, FIFO camps offer a variety of leisure amenities. Many camps come with gyms, pools, sports courts and entertainment areas to offer downtime activities to unwind.
Health services: Mine sites need to have private, comfortable spaces where workers can discuss health matters with professionals in full privacy.
These thoughtful amenities do more than provide comfort—they foster resilience and connection in isolated environments, boosting worker morale and productivity.
2.Enhancing worker wellbeing and productivity
Supporting physical and mental well-being is key to sustaining FIFO workers on long shifts in remote settings. FIFO can be a very demanding industry, with some shifts requiring 12 hours of work over extended periods. Employees need to be in supportive environments that encourage worker wellbeing.
By providing comfortable rest areas and leisure facilities, worker morale is boosted, which helps to mitigate any physical and mental fatigue that comes with demanding work on-site. Isolation and feeling of loneliness or homesickness are some of the biggest and most common challenges for staff working long hours for weeks or months in a row. Therefore, access to these recreational areas also supports workers in creating connections and encourages positive mental health. Communication tools like Wi-Fi and technology are also important to improve the mental health of the working, allowing them to stay in touch with their homes.
If worker well-being is enhanced, productivity is also boosted. Workers will be more likely to complete tasks quicker, be more thorough across jobs and contribute to higher job success and employee satisfaction.
3.Flexibility and rapid deployment
One of the significant advantages of temporary camps on mine sites is their flexibility and rapid deployment. Many temporary camps are modular, allowing for significantly quicker deployment and removal. This quick build and pack down allows for minimal delays in production, allowing for projects to stay on track. If operations also scale up or down, it also allows for more temporary accommodation to be added or taken away as needed. In an industry where the workforce fluctuates significantly, this flexibility is crucial to supporting FIFO workers and mine sites.
These camps are often also mobile and can be transported easily. For many mining exploration projects, this allows accommodation to be moved to new sites quickly and efficiently. Having mobilised accommodation also ensures workers will continue to be supported across new and different sites.
4.Sustainability and environmental impact
Modular camps support not just workers, but also sustainability goals. Many mine sites are trying to lower their carbon footprint, and utilising temporary accommodation assists in this goal. Temporary accommodation is often modular and far more sustainable to build and set up than traditional construction methods. The flexibility and scalability of these types of accommodation also mean that they can be easily increased or decreased without compromising the local environment.
If sites are constantly moving too, mobilisation of these units allows them to be transported, saving a whole new construction or waste of accommodation in old sites. Modular accommodation reduces waste and encourages reusability.
Many temporary camps also utilise energy-efficient technology such as solar panels and water recycling. These measures help mining companies meet growing environmental expectations without compromising productivity.
Find the perfect temporary accommodation in Australia with Mobile Camps
At Mobile Camps Australia, we are the leading suppliers of temporary accommodation to remote mine sites and FIFO workers. As a WA-based business, we perfectly understand the needs and requirements of FIFO industries when it comes to mobile accommodation. Therefore, we can manufacture custom-made temporary buildings specifically tailored to your project, no matter how big, small or remote the location.
Our site solutions come in three versatile options: dry hire, dry hire and install, and turnkey solutions. Contact our friendly team today to find the perfect solution to ensure your FIFO workers and mine site are supported, and your project reaches overall success.