It's no secret mining is a tough gig.

Extreme weather aside, miners are isolated as they fly in and out of remote sites across the country on long, gruelling rosters that keep them away from family and friends for long spells. While the common FIFO roster in mining is two weeks on, one week off, more remote sites can have longer term rosters of one month on, one month off.

Recent COVID-19 restrictions have made things even tougher for miners, as they feel fatigued and mentally exhausted, having little to no opportunity to go anywhere outside the mine site.

The findings of a parliamentary inquiry into the effects of FIFO rosters on mine workers' mental health in Western Australia, concluded that these rosters have detrimental effects on their health and wellbeing, and they are more at risk of mental illness than other industries.

FIFO workers often feel isolated due to being away from family and friends, missing the important events and milestones of their loved ones.

On site, miners reported using coping mechanisms that included reading, drawing, and watching television to manage the psychological challenges of being away from home, as well as the stresses that come with being on site. So providing high quality entertainment to miners is essential for staff morale.

With Foxtel, it's easy to entertain, amuse, inspire, and engage miners with unparalleled live sport coverage, the latest movies, popular TV series, brilliant documentaries, or the latest news. In fact, being able to watch new and quality entertainment content during long periods of isolation, be it music, shows, films, or live sport, has proven psychological benefits, namely:

• Improved connection with friends and family back home through the sharing of relevant content;
• Distraction from feelings of loneliness; and
• Increased competence, improved mood, and strengthened friendships with fellow miners on site.

Western Australia's Mental Health Commission report makes several recommendations addressing how employers can take a proactive approach to improve the experience of FIFO work for miners. Foxtel's wide selection of entertainment content can help achieve some of these recommendations, providing miners with home comforts even when they're away from home.

With over 1,000 movies available, Foxtel gives miners a way to relax in their rooms and take their mind off the workday's stresses. Having over 4,000 TV episodes on hand, ensures workers can stay up to date with the content they watched at home. And if their friends and family are binge-watching a show with a streaming service, they can easily cast the streaming app to the TV in their room, so they always stay connected.

Foxtel also adds fresh titles to the line-up every month, so miners will always find something new to watch. With 24/7 access to the most popular sports in Australia and globally, miners can keep up with their team and stay connected with sport from around the world. With the ability to pause live games, they can take a shower or grab a bite to eat after a long shift, never missing a moment of the action. As the home of cricket, Foxtel will also showcase every ball of the ODI series, Men and Women's Ashes, Test series and much more. So, miners can catch every ball all summer long, with the rest of Australia.

Furthermore, the commission recommended providing social activities on mine camps to foster a sense of community among miners. With Foxtel, miners can gather to watch blockbuster pay-per-view events, guaranteed to light up any wet mess and keep worker morale high.

Foxtel's platform also allows mining operators to easily promote site facilities and activities to their workers, as well as share critical information with them. Whether it's a reminder for a trivia night for miners to get together and share a laugh, or mandatory safety training, the platform has been designed to service the information needs of businesses.

Foxtel provides world-class entertainment all in one place, for a better FIFO life for your employees.