4 July, 2013 2:29PM AEST

Miners take step towards better health

A Queensland health initiative is targeting the mining industry in a push to improve the lifestyle of miners.

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The 10,000 Steps Challenge encourages participants to increase their daily physical activity by recording the number of steps they take.

Wesley Hallam works in the mining industry and says it's challenging to find the time to exercise regularly.

"It's definitely hard, depending on the rosters that people work," he says.

"The majority of people that work in the mining industry work 12 hour days and by the time you get home and get to the gym or go for a run, it makes it quite difficult."

He says motivation also varies depending on the stage of life that you're in.

"From people who have families to people who are single the motivations do change," he says.

"Where I once wanted to be fit, now I want to be home and spend time with my wife and family."

He says he manages to workout two to three times a week.

"It really depends on how long and how much of a challenging day you've had because it's not only the physical but the mental aspect of work and how much stress you've been put under," he says.

Wesley says it's a problem for the industry.

"You see it in the condition of some of the guys that are in at work, not always in peak physical condition but you also see a fair chunk of the workforce that are physically fit and it also comes back to the work that they're doing underground," he says.

"If they are hands on then they are usually a little more fitter and obviously if they're a bit younger but it is an issue in the aging population I suppose in the mining industry."

The mining workforce has been the latest industry to be targeted by the steps program.

Wesley says it's great that mining companies are being targeted but miners face unique challenges.

"I suppose when it comes to the mining industry it's very production orientated so for guys underground who have got to travel to their work, supervisors aren't going to make those guys walk those distances just for the sake of health when they're very production focused," he says.

"Obviously they are good initiatives but in the real world when we're trying to get coal out of the ground, it really makes it difficult and puts the guys under pressure."

10,000 Steps Challenge Director Dr Mitchell Duncan says the nature of mining has limited the ability of many to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

"Some of the Federal Government information does suggest that some of these workers do face some issues in maintaining a healthy weight and obviously physical activity, which 10,000 steps promotes, is key to maintaining a healthy body weight," he says.

He says he's calling on a number of mining organisations to take part in the 10,000 Steps program.

"All we're asking of them is to promote it to their employees and then the employees can then use the pedometers to count the number of steps that they take each day and then they can record that information on our website to keep track of that," he says.

He says he'd also encourage participants to form groups to make it a little more fun and competitive.

Dr Duncan says he's already had a number of mining companies express an interest in the program.

For more information, head to the 10,000 Steps website.