A former employee of mining giant BHP who left after reporting bullying says internal complaint processes are failing victims and stopping people from coming forward.
Bullying, harassment and sexual assault on mine sites was this week highlighted in a report on another firm, Rio Tinto.
The Rio Tinto review found almost half of 10,300 employee respondents had experienced bullying.
It also detailed 21 cases of rape or attempted rape and sexual assault in the last five years.
Jacinta Buchbach, who has a background in law enforcement and workplace investigation, spent two-and-a-half years at BHP.
She said she was not surprised by the findings in the Rio report, finding them similar to submissions from BHP to a WA parliamentary inquiry published last year.
"I applaud Rio Tinto for having [an] independent [person] conduct that research, but at the end of the day this is appalling," she said.
Ms Buchbach said she had made multiple reports related to alleged bullying during her time at BHP.
She ultimately took a redundancy, and said the internal process she encountered lacked procedural fairness.
"It [the reporting process] failed me as a complainant," Ms Buchbach said.
"It's been a very difficult 18 months of using the process of reporting and investigation.
"The process in my experience is definitely flawed. There's systemic failures in the reporting as well as the investigations of it."
'Pros and cons of speaking up'
Ms Buchbach said the industry needed to adopt a more "people-centric" reporting focus, something also noted as a recommendation in the Rio Tinto report.
For Ms Buchbach, this would mean mechanisms that kept victims safe during the reporting and investigation process, and a bigger focus on providing them with support.
She said the mining industry had a culture of normalising negative behaviours.
"The culture that, you know, 'this is just how we do things'," she said.
"You really do take matters into your own hands if you do decide to be that person that speaks up and says something.
"Because if it's entrenched in a culture, or it's normalised in a workplace … you really do need to weigh up the pros and cons of speaking up."
BHP says action taken towards reform
A spokeswoman for BHP said the firm was disappointed Ms Buchbach had not had a good experience.
"We have been taking action for a number of years to prevent and address any form of bullying or harassment in our business," she said
"We know there is more to do and this is a priority for us, including conducting investigations that prioritise care and concern for the people involved."
The spokeswoman said BHP was committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace.
"We do not tolerate any form of racism, discrimination, harassment or bullying, and we are absolutely committed to eliminating it from our business.”
In recent years, BHP has taken steps towards cultural reform, particularly in relation to alleged sexual harassment and assault.
In 2019 the miner conducted an internal diversity and inclusion review, but the report was kept private.
In 2018 they waived non-disclosure agreements for any victims of sexual assault or harassment, and by March 2019 they removed them entirely from any future settlement.
In March last year, BHP limited alcohol intake on FIFO camps to six standard drinks per day.
In August senior executives had their bonuses linked to preventing sexual assault as a KPI.
Miners urged to follow Rio Tinto's lead
Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility executive director Brynn O'Brien said the issues raised by Rio Tinto's report were "endemic" to mining.
"I think the issue we have got in this industry, particularly the iron ore industry in the Pilbara, has operated in this kind of self-regulatory way for decades," she said.
She said employees needed to have trust and confidence in the reporting process, and it needed to come from a firm's leaders.
"There needs to be an ongoing commitment to providing people who are experiencing this unacceptable conduct — whether it's sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexism, racism or bullying in the workplace — [they] need to have a system that is effective where they can report," she said.
Ms O'Brien said Rio Tinto's report "leads the industry" and praised the firm's transparency, saying it showed their leaders were prepared to be accountable and not deflect blame.
She called on other major mining companies to commission their own independent reports into their workplace.
"It really is on them to take this step … of coming out in public to do what is necessary to eliminate these behaviours," she said.
Call for racism to be tackled via increased diversity
The Rio Tinto report detailed racism experienced by Indigenous people, with almost 40 per cent of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander men and 32 per cent of women exposed at work.
Co-founder and chief executive of Indigenous Women in Mining and Resources Australia, Florence Drummond, said some of the details coincided with her own experience.
"That's a very sound reflection of industry … with my time through the industry, these are things that I have observed and experienced," she said.
"It wasn't a surprise that these things were reported."
Ms Drummond said initiatives to increase diversity, particularly in leadership roles, encouraged a culturally safe workplace and improved reporting mechanisms.
"It's great to see now the proactive approach with employing Indigenous people," she said.
"With the industry being a rigid industry, cultural change does take time."
