Half of survey respondents additionally say mining big’s office tradition has improved ‘so much’ or ‘slightly’.
Multiple-third of staff at Rio Tinto skilled bullying within the earlier 12 months, a progress assessment has discovered, almost three years after the mining big pledged to deal with pervasive sexism and racism within the office.
Among the many almost 12,000 surveyed Rio Tinto staff, 39 p.c reported being bullied, up from 31 p.c in 2021, the report commissioned by the British-Australian firm confirmed on Wednesday.
Feminine staff have been extra more likely to say they skilled bullying.
Half of the ladies surveyed reported such experiences, in contrast with 36 p.c of males, up from 36 p.c of girls and 29 p.c of males, respectively, in 2021.
The rise in bullying in opposition to ladies was partly resulting from “rising retaliation within the type of gendered bullying as a response to Rio Tinto’s efforts to advertise gender variety and inclusion,” the report mentioned.
Seven p.c of respondents – 16 p.c of girls and 4 p.c of males – mentioned they’d skilled sexual harassment, a proportion unchanged from 2021.
Eight staff mentioned they’d skilled precise or tried sexual assault or rape, in contrast with 5 in 2021.
Regardless of the findings, about half of the staff reported that the office tradition on the firm had improved.
Fifty p.c of respondents mentioned the state of affairs in relation to bullying had gotten “so much” or “slightly” higher, whereas 47 p.c and 46 p.c of respondents, respectively, reported enhancements in relation to sexual harassment and racism.
The assessment additionally discovered that 26 of the suggestions outlined within the 2022 On a regular basis Respect Report commissioned by the corporate had been largely carried out.
Rio Tinto’s chief government, Jakob Stausholm, mentioned he was “vastly troubled” that staff have been nonetheless experiencing dangerous behaviours however inspired by the corporate’s efforts to vary.
“The assessment additionally reveals that whereas progress is being made, attaining the sustained change we need to see in our tradition would require ongoing focus and energy,” Stausholm mentioned in an announcement.
“My message at the moment is that we’ll keep the course.”
The assessment, carried out by former Australian Intercourse Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, comes after a 2022 parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia discovered that sexual harassment and assault have been widespread within the mining sector.
