www.coldlakesun.com/news/life…

A study from the University of Alberta found commuter workers in the oilsands have worse mental health and more work-related stress than the general population.

Mental health advocates in Northeastern Alberta say the report backs up what they have been arguing for years.

The preliminary report included 72 participants who were interviewed between late 2019 and early 2020, before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most lived across Alberta and Canada, and worked 10- to 12-hour shifts during rotations that lasted six to 21 days.

The research team, led by sociologist Sara Dorow, found distrust was common towards employers regarding mental health treatment. Any available supports will not solve this crisis if current attitudes towards mental health continue, she said in an interview.

“I didn’t expect that distrust to come up as often as it did,” she said. “Mental health prevention needs to be built into safety culture. Everyone’s proud of the safety culture in the oilsands industry, but the industry has not done nearly enough around psychosocial safety.”

Half of the workers with on-site health care said they were unlikely to use it. They did not believe confidential matters could be kept private, and feared the services would hurt reputations, wages or employment. Half of all participants felt employers did a bad job at discussing mental health supports and showed little interest in minimizing stress.