The Better Together Platform was developed by ECU's Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Centre in collaboration with industry.
Researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) have developed a powerful new toolkit designed to help mining companies measure and improve psychosocial safety on mine sites.
The Better Together Platform, developed by ECU's Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Centre in collaboration with industry, provides mining companies with a practical way to gather data at both the site and team level. It helps assess the psychosocial safety on site and delivers evidence-based recommendations, along with links to tools and resources, to support improved psychosocial health and safety performance.
"The Better Together Platform is a free, purpose-built tool for mine sites where companies can track their site's performance in real time and compare their results with industry benchmarks," said ECU's Dr Fleur Sharafizad.
"The platform was developed with industry input. We have flown out and stayed on site multiple times to fully understand the psychosocial hazards that workers face, and to find the best ways in which to address these and improve outcomes."
At the heart of the platform is a short, and anonymous survey that takes just six minutes to complete. Sites have the option of adding additional topics to this core survey to a maximum length of 20 minutes. The platform requires a very small number of responses to start generating live preliminary results. Once the survey is finalised, the data is benchmarked against the Western Australia mining industry, providing companies with clear insights into their current psychosocial safety performance.
At the heart of the platform is a short and anonymous survey.
The platform then offers tailored, evidence-based recommendations, and direct access to tools and resources to support meaningful improvements in workplace mental health and safety.
Topics covered in the anonymous survey were based on the psychosocial hazards outlined in the Codes of Practice and include a range of potential psychosocial health and safety indicators including work demands, stress, team belongingness, bullying, change management, and supervisor support.
"The Better Together Platform is not just a barometer but goes one step further by providing actionable and evidence-based recommendations that mine operators can download and implement across their sites," ECU's Dr Aglae Hernandez Grande said.
While the Better Together Platform has been developed in Western Australia, the toolkit is available to mining companies right across Australia.
"Mining can be a high-pressure industry, and prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of workers is essential for long-term safety and performance. The Better Together Platform gives companies a clear, evidence-based way to understand and improve psychosocial safety on site. By working together, we can make mining not only safer - but better, together," Dr Hernandez Grande said.
The MARS Centre is funded by the Western Australian government's MARS program.
