BHP sets full-vax deadline
Unions lash January 31 target
BHP has riled unions over its decision to shut off access to its mines and offices to the unvaccinated by February 2022, telling its workforce to get jabbed as soon as they can.
The January 31 deadline for full vaccination will apply to BHP’s national operations.
The company said it would pull forward a deadline for employees and contractors to get a first vaccination at its Mt Arthur operations in NSW “considering local risk factors”. Its offices and mines in Western Australia and Victoria will also work towards earlier vaccination deadlines imposed for critical and fly-in fly-out workers by state health authorities.
BHP Minerals Australia boss Edgar Basto said the decision came after an extensive review of its needs and the safety of its workforce.
“The science is clear that widespread vaccination saves lives,” he said. “In line with government guidance, we recognise the path forward is through widespread vaccination in Australia and we are looking at a range of practical ways to support that while protecting communities and workforces.”
The decision will have widespread ramifications throughout the resources sector, given it will trigger similar requirements at mining services companies, both large and small, that have contracts with the mining giant, effectively forcing them to mirror BHP’s own decision in order to continue working on the company’s mines.
The WA government has already ordered the mining industry’s FIFO workforce to get vaccinated by the end of the year or face travel bans, a decision that will affect the state’s entire industry.
But vaccination will be more acute for BHP in Queensland, where the major regions in which the company operates – Central Queensland and the Mackay region – are lagging badly behind the rest of the state in terms of vaccination take-up, with only about 57 per cent of over-15s having received their first dose.
BHP also largely relies on a residential workforce for its Queensland coal operations, which employ 14,400 workers and contractors. But the decision will also affect the legion of small businesses, truck drivers, and service providers that also visit its mines on an occasional basis.
BHP will keep its own vaccination records for its workforce and core contractors, and will ask visitors to lodge proof of vaccination within its existing site registration system.
Mining and Energy Union Queensland district president Stephen Smyth said the union did not support the move.
“We have strongly advocated to government and industry that Covid-19 vaccinations should be voluntary for mineworkers, with the high rates we need to protect safety better achieved through education, access and incentives,” he said.