Health and wellness in the Australian coal mining industry: An analysis of pre-post findings from the RESHAPE workplace health promotion program

Aaron Bezzina B; Lee Ashton; Trent Watson; Carole L James

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0288244

Health and wellness in the Australian coal mining industry: An analysis of pre-post findings from the RESHAPE workplace health promotion program

PLoS One. 2023 Jul 7;18(7):e0288244. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288244. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Aaron Bezzina B^{1

2}, Lee Ashton^{2

3

4}, Trent Watson^{2

5}, Carole L James⁶

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Resources Health and Safety, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
² School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
³ Active Living Research Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), New Lambton Heights, New South Wales, Australia.
⁴ School of Education, College of Human and Social Futures, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia.
⁵ Ethos Health, Newcastle, Australia.
⁶ Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

Objectives: Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 71% of deaths in 2021. The chronic and pervasive nature of these diseases spurs the need for novel treatment approaches, including using the workplace as a front for the promotion and dissemination of health messages and activities. Taking this into consideration, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of a workplace health promotion program that targeted nutrition, physical activity, and obesity outcomes in a New South Wales (NSW) coal mine site.

Design: A 12-week quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test study.

Setting: A coal mine site in rural NSW, Australia.

Participants: At baseline there were n = 389 participants, with similar numbers at follow-up (n = 420) as well as 61 participants from both timepoints (8.2% repeated measures), with 89% of participants being male.

Intervention: A multicomponent wellness intervention was implemented incorporating aspects of education, goal setting, and competition.

Outcomes: Physical activity, nutrition, and weight.

Results: The mean BMI at baseline was 30.01 kg/m2, and at follow-up 29.79 kg/m2 (p = 0.39). At follow-up, participants reported 81% lower odds of engaging in the exercise category 'no moderate physical exercise' (OR = 0.09, p < 0.001), as well as 111% higher odds of meeting physical activity and exercise guidelines (OR = 2.11, p = 0.057). There were no changes to diet outcomes and no association between employment characteristics and participating in physical activity.

Conclusions: Workplace health promotion programs can be an efficacious strategy in improving physical activity outcomes and marginally improving weight outcomes in those in the mining industry. Further research is needed to determine the true effectiveness of these programs long-term, particularly in an environment as challenging and dynamic as the mining industry.

Copyright: © 2023 Bezzina B. et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

MeSH terms

Australia
Coal Mining*
Exercise
Female
Health Promotion
Humans
Male
Workplace

Grants and funding

This research was supported by competitive grant funding from Coal Services Health and Safety Trust (G1800980), received by C.J. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Funder details can be found at: https://www.coalservices.com.au/mining/about-us/health-safety-trust/.