Mining families can achieve better work-life balance with Batchfire
By drawing the Callide Mine site workforce from Biloela and the surrounding community Batchfire helps our staff to maintain their essential work-life balance.
More than 85% of our workforce live within the Callide Valley, making us the area’s largest single employer.
Working close to home makes it easier for our people to enjoy close connections to family and friends, without the difficulty of spending long periods in remote locations.
This helps us to stand out within a sector that frequently requires ‘fly-in, fly-out’ workers to live in camps far from the comforts of home, if they want to have a successful career.
Batchfire employees Louise and Anthony Williams
Biloela residents Louise and Anthony Williams both work at our Callide Mine. We asked Louise about the work-life balance they enjoy as a local mining family.
“Anthony does shift work which means four days on then four days off, while I work daytime hours,” said Louise. “This allows me to be home with our children after school which is so important.
“Having both parents return home at the end of their working day makes all the difference when it comes to family life. It gives us the work-life balance that is vital for all of us.
“As a mining family that’s a huge benefit of working for Batchfire and living in Biloela, compared with how challenging life would be if one of us was regularly flying away to a work camp,” she said.
Enjoy all the benefits of a normal family life
The Williams family are well established within their local community, having lived in Biloela for more than a decade.
“Biloela is a town where we can be a mining family and still enjoy all the benefits of a normal family life, we’re very thankful for that,” said Louise.
“Everyone’s together here, it’s very friendly and we found it easy to make friends from across the community.
“Lots of families are connected to the mining industry, however the schools and local clubs make it easy to meet people who work in agriculture or at the power station as well.
“Biloela has several schools to choose from so parents have options that suit their children’s needs. As someone who comes from a teaching background I appreciate how important that is,” she said. “There are lots of good community sporting clubs too.”
Louise feels Biloela is a safe place to live where neighbours and friends look out for one another.
“Our home is close to a park which is always busy after school and on weekends,” she said. “It’s another place for our children to meet friends and enjoy being outdoors.
“We also have a ski boat which we take to the dam which is only 15 minutes away. Getting out onto the water has become a big part of our lifestyle and it’s something we can all enjoy doing together.”
To find out more about Batchfire you can connect with us on LinkedIn or contact us here.
