SPEC-10 · People operations for sites you cannot drive to.
Mining & Fly-In Fly-Out HR
HR built for rotating mine and camp workforces: rosters that cover production without burning the crew, site health and safety that stands up to inspection, camp wellbeing that keeps people on shift, and remote hiring that lasts past the first rotation.
Investment
From $4,500
Format
Project or monthly retainer · site and remote
What it is
Mining people problems are not office people problems. A crew that lives in camp for two weeks at a time, a supervisor who is the only leader on site at three in the morning, and a rotation that has to cover a shutdown are all design decisions, and most of them get made by default.
The cost shows up in the same three places every time: turnover that never quite settles, fatigue and absence that surface as safety incidents, and a compliance file that looks complete until a mine safety regulator or an inspector asks for one specific record.
We work the way a mine works. Site visits on the rotation, plans built with the crews rather than handed to them, and programmes designed to run with the supervision you actually have on site. Health, safety and wellbeing sit in the same plan as the roster, because on a remote site they are the same problem.
What you walk away with
- →A roster that covers production without burning the crew that delivers it
- →Safety records that hold up in front of a mine safety inspector
- →A camp wellbeing programme measured on absence and turnover, not sign-ups
- →One employment framework applied the same way at every site and jurisdiction
In detail
Roster design and workforce planning
A rotation is an operating model, not a schedule. Every pattern carries a coverage assumption, a labour cost and a fatigue risk that has to be designed on purpose.
Rotation patterns and coverage
Two and two, three and one, four and three or eight and six: we model each pattern against your production calendar, travel windows and overtime exposure so coverage holds through turnaround and shutdown peaks.
Crew structure and supervision
Span of control on a remote site decides how fast a problem reaches a supervisor. We size crews, define shift handover and put a competency matrix behind every lead hand role.
Contractor and labour mix
Contracted drilling, haulage and catering crews sit inside your safety and conduct obligations. We set the terms, the supervision model and the compliance evidence required from each provider.
Camp and accommodation planning
Beds, dining capacity, room rules and travel windows shape behaviour as much as policy does. We plan camp capacity against roster peaks so accommodation stops driving turnover.
Health, safety and regulatory compliance
Mining carries the heaviest safety duties of any sector, and every province and territory writes its own version. The programme has to match the site, not a template.
Hazard assessment for remote operations
Ground control, haulage, blasting, working alone, wildlife and weather each need their own assessment and controls. We build the register with the crews doing the work, not for them.
Site orientation and supervisor due diligence
Every site, every rotation, every contractor. Orientation records, competency sign-offs and supervisor logs that demonstrate the duty was exercised, not just described.
Incident investigation and regulator reporting
Mine safety regulators set their own reporting thresholds and timelines. We build the investigation process, the notification matrix and the record set that survives scrutiny.
Emergency response and medical evacuation
Remote response times are measured in hours. We define the emergency response plan, muster and medevac criteria, and the training cycle that keeps the plan credible.
Fitness for work: fatigue, drugs and alcohol
A defensible policy covers fatigue, impairment testing, reasonable suspicion and the accommodation duty underneath all of it. We write it, train supervisors on it and set the testing protocol.
Contractor safety management
Pre-qualification, site rules, incident reporting and stop-work authority for every contractor on site, with the audit trail that shows one standard applied to everyone.
Wellbeing and mental health on rotation
Isolation, long shifts and weeks away from home create a strain that no office wellness programme was designed for. The interventions have to fit camp life and the roster.
Isolation and camp-life strain
Cabin fever, distance from family and a compressed social world. We assess the specific stressors at your site and build supports around them rather than importing a generic programme.
An EFAP remote crews actually use
Phone and video counselling only works when it is private, reachable on rotation and known to the crew. We review usage, redesign the access path and measure utilisation quarter over quarter.
Peer support and critical incident response
Trained peer supporters on each crew, plus a critical incident stress process after a serious event or fatality. Both are set up before they are needed, not after.
Sleep, fatigue and shift design
Night shift and long rotations degrade sleep. We review roster and travel design against fatigue science, then adjust the pattern, the handover and the recovery time at home.
Return to work after injury
Modified duties on a remote site take planning. We build the process, the documentation and the supervisor training so a return to work holds up at 900 kilometres from head office.
Recruitment, retention and community hiring
Fly-in fly-out roles are hard to fill and expensive to lose. Turnover on a rotation compounds: every departure costs a roster move, a flight and a training cycle.
Remote recruitment and realistic job preview
Candidates who understand the roster, the camp and the travel stay longer. We scope the role, run structured interviews and give an honest picture before the offer, not after.
Indigenous and local community hiring
Partnerships, training pathways and local procurement commitments are built with communities, not announced to them. We help design the pathway and the reporting behind it.
Retention on rotation
Exit interviews, stay interviews and roster flexibility for family and medical needs. The fixes are usually smaller and cheaper than the turnover they prevent.
Onboarding for a camp workforce
The first rotation sets the pattern. We build an onboarding sequence covering site rules, safety induction, camp conduct and a named buddy from the same crew.
Employment standards and labour relations
Mining workforces cross provincial, territorial and federal lines, and often a collective agreement. Getting the employment framework right prevents the disputes that stop a shift.
Cross-jurisdiction employment compliance
Hours of work, travel time, overtime and statutory holiday rules differ by province and territory. We map which standard applies to each crew, then align contracts and payroll to it.
Unionized site relations
Grievance handling, labour management meetings and collective agreement interpretation. We support the relationship day to day without taking over bargaining unless you ask.
Employee and contractor classification
Misclassified contractors are a payroll liability and a safety exposure. We review each arrangement against the tests that apply and restructure where the risk is real.
Travel, camp and living-out allowances
What counts as wages, what is a taxable benefit and what the collective agreement requires. We set the policy, then confirm payroll applies it the same way every cycle.
FAQ
Questions before getting started
What is fly-in fly-out HR support?
It is HR delivered for a workforce that lives on site in rotations rather than commuting daily. That changes almost every people process: recruitment has to sell a roster and a camp, onboarding has to survive a first rotation away from home, safety duties are heavier, and support services have to be reachable on shift in a remote location. We take on that work at the executive and site level, either as a project or on a monthly retainer.
Do mining operations need a joint health and safety committee?
Most jurisdictions require one once you pass a set headcount, commonly twenty workers, with a health and safety representative required below that. Mining regulators often add their own requirements on top, and thresholds differ by province and territory. We confirm the number that applies to your site, then set the committee up with terms of reference, training and minutes that show it actually functions.
How do you handle fatigue and long rotations?
With a fatigue management plan that covers roster design, maximum hours, travel time, rest periods and the process for reporting fatigue without penalty. The plan has to be defensible on paper and workable on a night shift, so we review the roster against fatigue science, adjust the pattern where it is unsafe, then train supervisors on the intervention. Records matter as much as the policy: an inspector will ask what you did, not what you wrote.
Can you support sites in more than one province or territory?
Yes. Health and safety, employment standards and workers compensation each follow the jurisdiction where the work happens, so a company operating in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut is running several frameworks at once. Some federally regulated operations follow the Canada Labour Code instead. We map the requirements per site and build one programme with the local variations built in.
What does mining HR support cost?
Project work starts at $4,500, scoped and priced in writing before it begins. Ongoing support runs on a monthly retainer sized to the number of sites, rotations and jurisdictions involved. If you are not sure what you need yet, the $1,750 Strategic HR Diagnosis produces a costed roadmap first, and site travel is quoted separately.
How do you reduce turnover on a fly-in fly-out roster?
Four things move the number: an honest job preview before the offer, an onboarding sequence that gets a new hire through the first rotation, roster flexibility for family and medical needs, and supervisors trained to notice strain early. We baseline voluntary turnover by crew and by role first, because turnover that looks like a retention problem is often a scheduling problem in one team.
SPEC-10
Bring us the challenge behind the brief.
Most engagements start with a conversation about the outcome you need, not the service you found on a website. Tell us the problem.