Rio Tinto employees report rise in bullying, sexual assault

Half of survey respondents also say mining giant’s workplace culture has improved ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’.

More than one-third of workers at Rio Tinto experienced bullying in the previous 12 months, a progress review has found, nearly three years after the mining giant pledged to tackle pervasive sexism and racism in the workplace.

Among the nearly 12,000 surveyed Rio Tinto employees, 39 percent reported being bullied, up from 31 percent in 2021, the report commissioned by the British-Australian company showed on Wednesday.

Female employees were more likely to say they experienced bullying.

Half of the women surveyed reported such experiences, compared with 36 percent of men, up from 36 percent of women and 29 percent of men, respectively, in 2021.

The rise in bullying against women was partly due to “increasing retaliation in the form of gendered bullying as a response to Rio Tinto’s efforts to promote gender diversity and inclusion,” the report said.

Seven percent of respondents – 16 percent of women and 4 percent of men – said they had experienced sexual harassment, a proportion unchanged from 2021.

Eight employees said they had experienced actual or attempted sexual assault or rape, compared with five in 2021.

Despite the findings, about half of the employees reported that the workplace culture at the company had improved.

Fifty percent of respondents said the situation in relation to bullying had gotten “a lot” or “a little” better, while 47 percent and 46 percent of respondents, respectively, reported improvements in relation to sexual harassment and racism.

The review also found that 26 of the recommendations outlined in the 2022 Everyday Respect Report commissioned by the company had been largely implemented.

Rio Tinto’s chief executive, Jakob Stausholm, said he was “greatly troubled” that workers were still experiencing harmful behaviours but encouraged by the company’s efforts to change.

“The review also shows that while progress is being made, achieving the sustained change we want to see in our culture will require ongoing focus and effort,” Stausholm said in a statement.

“My message today is that we will stay the course.”

The review, conducted by former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, comes after a 2022 parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia found that sexual harassment and assault were widespread in the mining sector.