Widespread bullying, harassment detailed in Rio Tinto report
BNN Bloomberg
More than a quarter of female workers at Rio Tinto Group have experienced sexual harassment and almost half of all staff have been victims of bullying, according to a new report that’s set to raise fresh investor questions over the mining giant’s governance.
More than a quarter of female workers at Rio Tinto Group have experienced sexual harassment and almost half of all staff have been victims of bullying, according to a new report that’s set to raise fresh investor questions over the mining giant’s governance.
A total of 21 women reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault at company sites over the past five years, and racism was found to be widespread across operations in Australia and South Africa. The report is the result of a company-commissioned study that surveyed more than 10,000 employees on workplace culture.
“The findings of this report are deeply disturbing to me and should be to everyone who reads them,” Jakob Stausholm, London-based Rio Tinto’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “I feel shame and enormous regret to have learned the extent to which bullying, sexual harassment and racism are happening at Rio Tinto.”
Coming less than two years after the world’s second-largest miner apologized for the destruction of ancient Aboriginal Australian heritage sites, the latest revelations over the extent of Rio Tinto’s toxic work culture threaten to stoke new investor unrest. The 2020 explosions at an iron-ore site, which buried a record of life dating back more than 40,000 years, prompted demands for sweeping changes and the exit of top executives including Stausholm’s predecessor.
The external review, initiated last year after a spate of reports over misconduct at remote mine sites in Western Australia, will also undermine the industry’s often loudly proclaimed ambitions to achieve better gender balance in historically male-dominated workforces and to champion broader diversity aims.
