FIFO men motivated to go with the mo

Ten staff members from Rio Tinto’s salt operations in Hedland have jumped on board this Movember in a bid to raise awareness for men’s health.

Andrew Burazin, who has been a fly-in, fly-out worker for close to two decades, joined the team and said in regards to men’s health he though it was a “bit more commonplace” these days to find men talking about their concerns.

However, he said the challenges of working away from home could be particularly hard for him and many of his colleagues.

“People with young families particularly, we each have reasons for doing the long stints away from home (and) primarily the traditional worries are always money and job security,” he said.

“I do get frustrated if there are certain events and functions on and my family go and I do miss out.

“But we have to make a living and we make a choice.”

FIFO worker Todd Madill has done Movember a couple of times but said last year was the first time he registered and raised money for the cause.

He said men in general were tending to speak up about the issues they have without being concerned about the typical male attitudes. “(The process) of holding it in is sort of starting to die,” he said. Mr Madill, who was already sporting a successful mo after just four days of growth, said he got on board with Movember to raise awareness for the cause while having a bit of fun.

“The more people talk about it, the more people think about men’s health and the situations that can arise,” he said.

“I think that society is allowing for men to speak out.”

Mr Burazin said he believed sometimes men could be “forgotten”, and added causes like Movember were important.

“We’re always talking about women’s issues all the time, so it’s nice to shed a little bit of light on male health,” he said.