Makayla Muscat, Daily Mail Australia
Updated June 10, 2024 02:23, June 10, 2024 08:32
A worker who travels to work by plane and returns home by plane has exposed the dark underside of her six-figure paying job after sharing a disturbing note left for her by a male colleague.
Isabella said she had only been on the job a few weeks when a colleague managed to find her room and slip a note under her door addressed to the “newbie.”
She said she had been “warned that there would be strangers on site” but admitted she was “not prepared for something like this” when she applied for the job.
In a video that has been viewed nearly 80,000 times on TikTok, Isabella decided to share what was written on the piece of paper.
“If you'd like a free e-cigarette as a little thank you, let me know,” she read.
Isabella took a closer look at her colleague's handwriting and asked how she got her room number and “why does she write like a child?”
“If this is a FIFO lifestyle, I'm not sure I want it,” she said.
Other female FIFO employees said they too had been targets of creepy behaviour.
“I've worked at FIFO for three years and this has happened three times,” one user wrote.
“Wait until you find a random pair of boxer shorts in your washing machine made by people trying to send you a message.”
“Yup! I know all about that! Swap for little things, hahaha! It's part of the FIFO life,” added another.
“If you're in the camp you're in now I've encountered a lot of creepy stuff there too,” a third wrote.
Many called the note “disrespectful” and urged Isabella to report it to human resources to prevent further uncomfortable contact from the man.
According to jobs website Talent, the average annual salary of a FIFO worker in Australia is $112,500.
Salary $92,717 to $168,899 per year depending on experience.
Western Australia conducted an inquiry into sexual harassment of women in the mining industry in 2022.
The state's Resources Minister Madeleine King said the results were “shocking”.
Women make up around 17% of the mining sector's 302,600 workers, but account for 74% of those who reported experiencing sexual harassment at work.
The Western Australian Parliament's Standing Committee on Community Development and Justice carried out an investigation and made more than 20 recommendations to make FIFOs safer for women.
A recent report said the mining industry “appears to have made progress, but hidden forms of sexual harassment, such as misogyny, remain high.”
Western Australian driller Jordan Wilson said before the alcohol limit was introduced in 2022 there were a lot of issues dealing with unruly men on mining sites in the state.
He explained that many people would get drunk and start causing problems.
“All-night music, partying, fighting, damage — that kind of thing used to happen at any mining site,” he told Yahoo.
