ME TOO MINING ASSOCIATION - MeTooMining NEWS

The Importance of Bystander Intervention Training

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 20:02:05 GMT

Julia Gartley, Vice-President and Director of Me Too Mining Association spoke with the press regarding her experience with sexual assault as a young professional, and how she believes that we can help empower people to change their workplaces to be safer for all employees. Bystander intervention can equip your employees with the skills to recognize and safely intervene to reduce sexual harassment or assault in the workplace.

"It’s one of her motivating factors for joining Me Too Mining and why the industry advocacy group has started offering bystander intervention training for the industry."

"“I don’t want to hear the story of another young person going through a similar incident that I did,” Gartley said."

The Story

The Video

PDAC 2019: Booth, panel discussions and harassment at the conference

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 08:00:00 GMT

Me Too Mining Association rented booth space at PDAC 2019 to introduce our association and our message to the mining industry. Let everyone know that we are out there. The response from conference attendees was overall very positive.
Our messaging of

Safe, Inclusive and Respectful workplaces through better reporting options,
Better policy support and training around appropriate workplace behaviours and bystander intervention strategies, and
Messaging that sexual harassment in the workplace impacts all workers and is a Health and Safety issue and should be included in H&S policies, tool boxes, daily H&S talks and explicitly included in whistleblower reporting policies.

Having a presence at the major mining conferences this year has really helped to start and continue the conversation in the mining industry around sexualized violence, sexual harassment, Intimidation and Discrimination.

Our Active Bystandter Intervention Pledge was well received and we gathered a lot of new signatures on our table runner.

Susan Lomas, President of Me Too Mining Association was invited to participate on the panel discussion sponsored by Goldcorp Inc. on Gender Diverse and Inclusive Workplaces. The panel was organized and moderated by Valerie Pascale of Goldcorp Inc.

Other Panel members included Anna Tudela of Goldcorp Inc., Shastri Ramnath from Orix Geoscience and , Susan Lasecki-Coiro from BHP.

It was a lively discussion on many aspects of inclusion and diversity in the workplace with a lot of active discussions with the audience.

.Many of the discussions at the booth and while participating in other events at the conference, included sexual harassment of female conference attendees at the PDAC in 2019 and also historically.

Susan Lomas, President of MTMA started attending the PDAC conference back in the late 1980s and has experienced a lot of inappropriate behaviours from other conference attendees over the years. Especially when attanding as a university student and as a young geologist

RoundUp 2019 Summary

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 19:28:02 GMT

MTMA had a great time at AMEBC RoundUp Conference 2019 in January and would like to thank everyone who stopped by the booth and gave us such positive feedback!

We participated in a Women at RoundUp event that was hosted at the Elephant and Castle Pub in Vancouver on Jan 29 with MTMA, Women Geoscientists Canada (WGC), and Women in Male Dominated Industries (WIMDI). We had a good turnout of women and men in the mining and mineral exploration industries. We broke up into small groups so we could have an opportunity to have discussions around the challenges faced by workers in these industries and how we can grow safe and respectful workplaces.

On the last two days of the conference, MTMA had a booth where we had banners that explained the goals of MTMA and a table display that promoted our Active Bystander Pledge. We had 72 people come by and take the pledge by signing our table runner. We also handed out information on Bystander Intervention strategies to empower everyone in mining to action when inappropriate behaviour happens to them or in their presence.

We really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with conference attendees and let industry companies and workers know what our goals are and how we hope to accomplish them.

MTMA is travelling to Toronto in March for PDAC 2019 at booth # 6428 in the Trade Show North Area. Drop by our booth and say hello and take the Active Bystander Pledge by signing our table runner.

what can you do if you or someone else is subjected to inappropriate behaviour in the workplace? be an active bystander!

Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:50:35 GMT

MTMA have the following suggestions and we consider this an organic document that we will update and adjust with new information or advice. We will also dedicate a web page to actions for the workplace in the very near future.

So what are some of the things you can do when faced with or witness inappropriate behaviours in the workplace?

The first step is to assess the situation, is everyone safe? There is no one answer or solution for action as there are multiplicities of scenarios and behaviours around unacceptable situations. Your first priority is your safety and the second is for the safety of the targeted person.
If it is safe, be bold and be direct; address the behaviour but do not attack the harasser. You can use statements that are short and succinct like:
- Knock it off!
- That is not funny!
- That is harassment!
- That is racist!
- That is inappropriate!
- That is disrespectful
- That is not ok!
- Leave me alone! ….her alone! …him alone! …them alone!
- Do not say that to me! …to him! …to her! …to them!
- Get your hands off me! …her! …him! ...them!
- Back away from me right now! …him right now! …her right now! …them right now!
If you are concerned for your safety or for someone else’s, then get help through bystanders or authority. If safety is a serious concern then call 911, call security or a manager or supervisor. If there are bystanders then enlist their help or if there are coworkers close by, go get them. Disrupt the situation and distract the harasser by asking an unrelated questions like “What time is it?” or drop something and make a loud noise or spill coffee or water.
Once the target is removed from the situation, check in with them and ensure that they are ok and brought to a place of safety and security.
As soon as possible, document the incident in a journal, personal email to yourself or an electronic document. It is important to keep a record of all incidents we experience or witness because documentation supports the reporting process, provides evidence of escalation and amasses a record of events that we cannot dismiss or discount over time.

Record the following information:
Name of harasser(s)
Name of targeted person (s)
Name of all witnesses or bystanders
Date and time
Location
Detailed description of inappropriate behavior or statements and document any touching or contact.
Attach hard copies of any electronic communications including emails, texts, social media posts, etc.
Keep a recording of any voicemails or other audio based communications
Photograph any graffiti or images that may be part of the incident
Record all physical and emotional reactions of you as the witness, bystander or target
Remember that it is better to write too much detail rather than too little
Document all visits to doctors, counselors or therapists that are related to the incident
Report the incident to the company. Sexual violence and sexual harassment are under-reported across all industries but in order for the mining industry to change, we need reporting to reflect the number of incidents that are actually happening. Companies need to enact or adjust policies and procedures so they can address these issues in the workplace and this cannot be accomplished if incidents are not reported. If your company fails to act or has a dissatisfying outcome, you have the right to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission as all Canadians have the right to a workplace free of sexual violence and sexual harassment. For Americans it is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). For Australians it is the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

President of Me Too Mining Association, Susan Lomas, included in Women in Mining UK's 2018 "100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining"

Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT

Me Too Mining Presentation at the SEG 2018 Conference in Keystone Colorado

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 07:00:00 GMT

Me Too mining talks with the Globe and Mail

Thu, 24 May 2018 21:07:19 GMT

Us Too: Eight women share their stories of sexism, harassment and assault at work
Name withheld**due to fear of repercussions because she is still working at the same employer where the harassment occurred In my case, the complaint process was the worst part of the whole experience. On three separate occasions, a senior director on my team said wildly inappropriate things to me, drawing parallels between me and his sexual partners.

Me Too Mining Speaks with Mine Magazine

Mon, 30 Apr 2018 07:00:00 GMT

Susan Lomas has worked in the mining industry for over 30 years and has experienced sexual harassment first-hand. This year she founded the Me Too Mining Association to start a conversation about gender-based violence and discrimination in the mining industry. Heidi Vella speaks to Lomas to find out more...

Me Too mining talks with BNN

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 17:14:25 GMT

Me toO mining talks with canadian institute of mining magazine

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 01:43:10 GMT

Click on image below to open a tab to read the article on the Canadian Institute of Mining's website.