Mine site medicals, drug tests and inductions: what to expect

The usual order of things

Every company runs its own process, but the shape is similar whether you are going to a Pilbara iron ore site, a Goldfields gold mine or a Bowen Basin coal mine. Fortescue, for example, describes its process as an online application, a values based interview, then a pre-employment medical along with background, police and identification checks. Other big miners list similar checks, and the details vary by role and site.

For apprentices, the checks usually come after the interview and before your first swing. If you are going through a group training organisation (GTO) or a contractor, the host employer or the site owner may set the medical standard, not the GTO. Either way, a failed or incomplete check usually means no site access, even with a signed training contract.

• •Application and aptitude or online assessments
• •Interview or assessment centre
• •Conditional offer
• •Pre-employment medical and functional assessment
• •Drug and alcohol screen (often done at the same clinic visit)
• •Police check, ID and right-to-work check
• •Generic induction (if the state or sector needs one) and company inductions
• •Site-specific induction on your first day or first swing

What the pre-employment medical tests

Mining medicals are built around the hazards of the job: noise, dust, heavy lifting, shift work and safety-critical equipment. Coal Services in NSW lists blood pressure, spirometry (a lung function test where you blow hard into a tube), a hearing test, a vision test and a musculoskeletal assessment as part of its coal mine worker assessment, plus questionnaires and a chest X-ray. Non-coal medicals cover most of the same ground because the hazards are the same.

You will fill in a detailed health questionnaire first. Expect questions about past injuries, surgeries, back and shoulder problems, asthma, hearing, mental health, sleep, medications and previous workers' compensation claims. The doctor uses it to decide whether you are fit for the role, fit with restrictions, or not fit. In Queensland coal, only the signed health assessment report covering fitness for duty and any work restrictions goes to the employer, not your full medical file.

• •Hearing (audiometry): sets a baseline so later noise damage can be picked up
• •Vision: distance, near and often colour vision, which matters for electrical work and reading signals
• •Spirometry: lung function, important for dust, diesel fumes and respirator use
• •Blood pressure, heart rate and urine test
• •Height, weight and general physical exam
• •Musculoskeletal check: spine, joints, range of movement
• •Chest X-ray: required for coal in QLD and NSW, sometimes requested elsewhere for dust exposed roles
• •Respirator fit test if your role needs a tight-fitting mask

Functional capacity tests and physical fitness

Many mining employers add a functional capacity assessment, sometimes run by a physio or exercise physiologist. It is a practical test of whether your body can do the job: lifting boxes from floor to waist and shoulder height, carrying, squatting, kneeling, climbing a ladder or steps, grip strength, and working with your arms overhead. Diesel fitters and mechanical fitters spend a lot of time crawling under and climbing over big gear, so the test is not just a formality.

Weight and fitness come into it too. A higher body weight on its own is not an automatic fail, but it can lead to extra questions about heart health, blood pressure and sleep problems like sleep apnoea, which matter on long shifts and when operating machinery. If you are unfit, the functional test is where it shows. The fix is simple but takes time: start training a couple of months before you apply, with a focus on squats, carries, core strength and cardio.

Coal medicals: Queensland and NSW have their own schemes

In Queensland, coal mine workers are covered by the Coal Mine Workers' Health Scheme, formerly known as the Coal Board Medical. It is run by Resources Safety and Health Queensland (RSHQ). You need an assessment before you start work as a coal mine worker and when you change employers, then periodically as decided by the Appointed Medical Adviser, but at least once every 5 years. The assessment includes spirometry and a chest X-ray to detect coal mine dust lung diseases like black lung, and the X-rays are dual-read by Lungscreen Australia. Since 1 April 2023, all assessments must be started on RSHQ's online system, ResHealth. The employer must arrange and pay for the assessment, including any follow-up tests.

In NSW, coal mine workers are covered by Coal Services' Order 45, which took over from Order 43 on 1 January 2026. Order 45 replaced the old pre-placement and periodic medicals with a single health assessment, which you need every 3 years along with chest imaging, even if you change jobs within that time. If the doctor wants to keep an eye on something, you may get a health assessment review with conditional clearance for 3, 6 or 12 months. Miss the review and your certificate expires, which means no site access.

Underground coal and some surface roles carry extra exposure categories, so your assessment may be more detailed than a mate's on the same site. If you are an electrical or diesel apprentice heading to a Hunter Valley or Bowen Basin coal mine, assume you will do the full coal medical, not just a company check.

Metals, quarries and WA

Outside coal, there is no single state medical card in most places. Your medical is set by the employer, based on the risks of the role. In Western Australia, health and safety on mines moved from the old Mines Safety and Inspection laws to the Work Health and Safety laws on 31 March 2022, under the Work Health and Safety (Mines) Regulations 2022, and WorkSafe WA is now the place for mining safety guidance. Mines must have health surveillance for workers exposed to things like dust, noise and chemicals, but the pre-employment medical itself is the company's standard.

Queensland mineral mines and quarries have had a respiratory health surveillance requirement since 1 September 2020. Site senior executives must arrange it before a worker starts in the industry, then at least once every 5 years. So if you are heading to a Mount Isa or North West Queensland metals site, expect lung function testing and possibly a chest X-ray as well.

In practice, Pilbara iron ore and Goldfields gold medicals cover the same core tests listed above. Open pit and underground roles may have different standards. Check the job ad or ask the recruiter which medical you are booked in for.

Drug and alcohol testing: what to expect

You will almost certainly be tested before you start and randomly once you are on site. In Queensland coal, the law requires each mine's safety and health management system to include voluntary self-testing, random testing, and testing when someone reasonably suspects you are impaired, for both alcohol and drugs. In NSW mines, the Resources Regulator says the critical control is refusing site access if a substance is detected or impairment is found, and lists random testing, testing on reasonable belief and testing after an incident as normal triggers.

Alcohol is usually tested with a breathalyser, often at the gate or before pre-start, and many sites run a zero or near-zero limit. Drugs are tested by urine or saliva (oral fluid). Urine testing to the Australian Standard AS/NZS 4308 picks up a longer window of use, while saliva testing to AS/NZS 4760 mostly picks up more recent use. Both standards screen for the same main groups of drugs.

If a screen comes back non-negative, the sample usually goes off to a lab for confirmation before a final result. What happens next depends on the company's policy and the enterprise agreement: you might be stood down, sent off site, required to complete an assessment or employee assistance program, or lose the job. For a pre-employment test, a confirmed positive almost always means the offer is withdrawn. Cannabis in particular can show up in urine for weeks after you stop.

• •Amphetamine-type substances, including methamphetamine (ice) and MDMA
• •Cannabis (THC)
• •Cocaine
• •Opiates, and on many panels, oxycodone
• •Benzodiazepines
• •Alcohol, by breath test

Prescription medicines: declare them

Some prescription and over-the-counter medicines can show up on a drug screen or affect your ability to work safely. Strong painkillers, some sleeping tablets, anxiety medication, some cold and flu tablets and medicinal cannabis are the usual ones. In Queensland coal, the safety and health management system must include a duty for workers to disclose medication that could impair their work, and a record of those disclosures. NSW guidance lists prescription medication safeguards as part of a proper drug and alcohol policy.

Declare everything on the medical questionnaire and again at the testing clinic, before you give the sample. Bring the box or a script or letter from your GP. Declaring a medicine does not mean you are automatically cleared for safety-critical work, especially with medicinal cannabis or opioid painkillers, but hiding it and then testing positive looks much worse and can cost you the job. If you are on something long term, talk to your GP before the medical about whether there is an alternative that suits shift work.

Fitness for work and fatigue rules on site

Fitness for work means turning up able to do your job safely: not hungover, not affected by drugs or medication, not wrecked from lack of sleep, and not hiding an injury. You are expected to tell your supervisor if you are not fit. It is not a trick question, and on a well-run site it is the right call.

Mines have to manage fatigue as a hazard. In Queensland coal, the safety and health management system must set a maximum number of hours per shift, the number and length of rest breaks, and a maximum number of hours per week or roster cycle, along with fatigue education. In NSW, the Resources Regulator has flagged incidents where workers did long runs of consecutive long shifts, and where combined work and travel time went over the site's fatigue management plan. In WA, WorkSafe's Working hours code of practice covers mining rosters and long hours.

FIFO and drive-in drive-out (DIDO) rosters make this real. Twelve hour shifts, night shift changeovers and long drives home after a swing are where fatigue bites. Expect fatigue questionnaires, limits on overtime, rules about driving after night shift, and camp rules on alcohol. For more on the lifestyle side, read our guide to FIFO mining life pros and cons at FIFO mining life for apprentices: the honest pros and cons.

Inductions: generic, company and site-specific

There are usually two or three layers of induction. A generic induction covers mining safety basics that apply across a state or sector. A company induction covers that employer's systems. A site induction covers the specific mine: its layout, emergency procedures, hazards, traffic rules and who to report to. You do a site induction at every new site, even if you hold a generic one.

Queensland coal uses Recognised Standard 11, Training in coal mines, under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act. Most people just call it Standard 11 or S11. For surface coal it is commonly delivered as the Surface Coal Mine Safety Skill Set (RIISS00034), which covers responding to local emergencies, following site procedures, local risk control, workplace communication, working safely to WHS procedures, and initial response first aid. Underground coal has its own version. Training providers generally say it needs refreshing every 5 years, and some sites ask for more often, so check with the site. Some big operators, like BMA, run their own S11 for their workers and contractors, so do not pay for a course before you know whether your employer will put you through it.

WA metals mining has no state-wide induction like S11 that we could confirm. Some WA contractors still ask for a generic mining safety induction, historically the MARCSTA General Safety Induction, but most major miners in the Pilbara and Goldfields run their own company and site inductions. Check the job ad before paying for anything.

Tickets, licences and background checks

As an apprentice, you are not expected to arrive with a stack of tickets. Employers usually put you through what your role needs once you are hired, and your trade training covers the rest. That said, a few things make you more employable, and a couple of them have age or time limits you need to plan around.

High risk work licences (forklift, dogging, rigging, scaffolding, cranes) need you to be at least 18, and they are recognised in every state. A heavy vehicle licence can help, especially for diesel and plant roles: in NSW, MR needs a car licence held for at least 1 year and HR needs a car licence held for at least 2 years. A full manual car licence is often expected for site roles.

Background checks are standard. Most employers ask for a National Police Check, which you can get through the Australian Federal Police or a state police service, and the AFP says it cannot tell you in advance what may show up. A record does not always rule you out, but be upfront about it. You will also need to prove your right to work in Australia, usually with a passport, birth certificate or visa details.

• •Working at heights: common and often done in your first weeks
• •Confined space entry: common for fitters, electricians and boilermakers
• •First aid (HLTAID011) and CPR: useful and cheap, often covered in your induction
• •Forklift high risk work licence: 18 plus
• •MR or HR truck licence: depends on how long you have held your car licence
• •Coal: Standard 11 surface or underground, usually arranged by the employer
• •Electrical apprentices: low voltage rescue and CPR refreshers are often required by employers

Practical tips so you pass first time

Mining apprentices are usually paid under company enterprise agreements, often with site, travel or remote allowances on top, so a failed medical or drug test costs you a lot more than one job. Check the employer's EBA and the Fair Work Pay Calculator at https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/ to understand the pay side, and treat the checks as part of getting that job. For the bigger picture, see How to get a mining apprenticeship in Australia, Mining apprenticeship programs in Australia: who hires and when and The best trades for getting on the mines, plus the state guides at Apprenticeships in WA: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in Queensland: incentives, free training and where to start and Apprenticeships in NSW: incentives, fee-free training and where to start.

• •Be honest on the questionnaire. Doctors can usually work around old injuries if they know about them. Hiding one and then reinjuring it on site can end your job and affect a compensation claim.
• •Get fit early. Two to three months of regular training makes the functional test easy.
• •Stay off drugs completely once you start applying. Cannabis can stay in your urine for weeks, and you often get very little notice before a test.
• •Do not drink the night before the medical or your first day. Many sites test at zero or near zero.
• •Protect your hearing now. Wear earplugs at gigs, at the range and on the tools so your baseline hearing test is a good one.
• •Shave before the medical if a respirator fit test is likely, and expect a clean-shaven rule on many sites.
• •Bring photo ID, your Medicare card, glasses or contacts, any hearing aids, and a list of your medications with the boxes or a GP letter.
• •Wear comfortable clothes and enclosed shoes for the functional test, and eat a light meal beforehand.
• •Sleep well the night before, avoid loud noise the day before the hearing test, and avoid smoking before spirometry.
• •Keep copies of every certificate, ticket and induction card. You will be asked for them again.