Mental Health Issues Rampant Among Oz Miners

A new study conducted by researchers at Hunter Institute of Mental Health and the University of Newcastle has found that thousands of miners in Australia are suffering from mental problems, including depression, and are costing more than $450 million to the mining industry every year. The report reveals that as many as 8,000 to 10,000 miners suffer from mental illnesses every year including anxiety, depression and substance abuse.

The report, which will be presented at the Minerals Council's Occupational Health and Safety Conference, said that mental illnesses are costing a single mine around $300,000 to $400,000 every year.

“We are actually recommending a comprehensive approach in which we look at opportunities to actually promote the mental health of workers in the industry. The industry is already addressing many risk factors, including fatigue so we would want to include what they're already doing and look for opportunities to do more in that area of prevention”, Hunter Institute’s Trevor Hazell said.

Source-Medindia