Managing suicide risk for fly-in fly-out resource industry employees

Work-related suicide of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) resource industry employees has emerged as a critical concern, yet there is limited knowledge about the impact of occupational and individual risks and how resource industry companies can best protect both their interests and their workers. To advance this line of research, this commentary paper provides a review of the causes of, and relationships between, occupational and psychosocial risk factors and discusses management approaches to work-related suicide. The primary contributions of the paper are to identify vulnerable occupations and individuals, identify risks in the FIFO employment arrangement and strengthen an understanding of organisational risk management strategies. Consequently, this helps to indicate where intervention should focus, and serves to recommend areas for future research.