Respect for all

Our behaviours bring Our Values to life.

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We are committed to providing a workplace where everyone is treated with respect, and care. This means creating an inclusive environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, racism, and any other disrespectful behaviours. Ensuring respect and care for ourselves and others is fundamental to Our Values – and it’s how we make work safe, productive and healthy for us all.

Respect for all
What it means for you

Respect for all means we treat each other fairly, communicate openly, celebrate success, and show appreciation for a job well done. Treating everyone with respect, regardless of their personal attributes or status, is essential. 

 

Positive behaviours include listening actively, communicating openly, and supporting our colleagues. We are committed to preventing physical or psychosocial harm and stand against behaviours that are harassing, offensive, intimidating, or exclusive. If we witness or experience behaviour that contradicts Our Values, we speak up and address it. 

 

BHP values the diversity of our people and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment that drives safer and better results for everyone.

 

Our commitments extend to work-related circumstances beyond the workday and traditional work environments. Our people always look out for one another, at all places – including online, while travelling for work, and in work-related social situations. 

How you make an impact

You respect one another, are confident about what’s not acceptable, challenge behaviour that doesn’t align to Our Values, and speak up with any concerns. 

Behaviours that have no place at BHP 

There are some behaviours that undermine Our Values and that have no place at BHP. Some examples include sexual harassment, bullying, racial harassment, or discrimination. We are all responsible for ensuring none of our people are exposed to these behaviours, and that we speak up if we observe them. 

 

Our leaders are accountable for lifting the performance of their teams through regular coaching and feedback, which is not harassment or bullying if it is respectful and constructive. 

 

Sexual harassment 

 

Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual favours, or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which makes a person feel offended, humiliated, and/or intimidated, where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in the circumstances. Sexual harassment includes displaying or sharing offensive material. 

 

Racial harassment 

 

Racial harassment is a racial slur, derogatory joke, comment, image or unwanted conduct based on race, descent, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic origin, nationality, national origin, country of origin, colour or status as an immigrant. Racial harassment also includes displaying or sharing offensive material. 

 

Discrimination 

 

Discrimination occurs when a person, or group of people, is treated less favourably than another person or group, because of a personal attribute. A personal attribute can include gender identity, sex, age, origin, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, intersex status, gender reassignment, transgender status, disability, marital and civil partnership status, religion, political opinion, pregnancy, breastfeeding, family responsibilities or experience of family and domestic violence. 

 

Harassment  

 

Harassment includes unwelcome behaviour that offends, humiliates or intimidates a person. Generally harassment occurs because of a personal attribute (as described above). 

 

Bullying  

 

Bullying is repeated behaviour directed towards a worker or group of workers that a reasonable person, having considered the circumstances, may see as unreasonable, including victimising, mocking, humiliating, intimidating or threatening behaviour, displaying or sharing offensive material. 

Resources

Response Options to Reported Misconduct Global Process

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Always

• Act professionally at all times and treat everyone with respect.

• Speak up if you see, hear or experience disrespectful behaviour directed towards you or anyone else.

• Challenge inappropriate, exclusionary or discriminatory behaviour, whether it’s intentional or not.

• Make any employment-related decisions, including recruitment, promotion, training, development and remuneration, based on merit according to skills, qualifications and capabilities.

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Never

• Engage in harassment, sexual harassment, bullying, racism (including racial harassment), or discrimination.

• Behave in a way that would be reasonably viewed as offensive, insulting, intimidating, malicious or humiliating, including making comments about someone’s personal characteristics.

• Distribute, display or share any material that could reasonably offend including: pornography; racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist or culturally inappropriate photos, videos, cartoons and social media content; and any personal information that does not relate to you found online.

• Take part in or facilitate hospitality or entertainment of an inappropriate nature (for example, sexually oriented) or at inappropriate venues, including accepting or facilitating gifts which are inappropriate.

• Make unwelcome requests for a romantic or intimate relationship with a colleague.

• Pursue a romantic or intimate relationship with a trainee, apprentice, graduate or intern if you are a people leader or responsible for providing mentoring or training.

• Treat someone differently for taking or not taking part in industrial activities such as belonging or not belonging to an industrial and/or union association.

• Discriminate against any individual or group based on personal attributes unrelated to job performance.

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Hypothetical scenarios
Q: One of my colleagues has asked me out on a date on a couple of occasions. I've said I'm not interested and now his behaviour is making me feel uncomfortable. He's saying sexually inappropriate things and making fun of me in front of other people in meetings. My colleagues laugh about it and when told another colleague, he said I was over-reacting and too sensitive. What should I do?

A: This is sexual harassment and will not be tolerated.


If you’re comfortable, speak directly to your colleague about his behaviour. Otherwise, talk to your line leader, 2Up leader, Employee Relations advisor, Human Resources business partner, Ethics Support Service or contact EthicsPoint. You can also talk to a friend or someone you trust for support.

Q: In a performance conversation, my leader brought up a deadline I had missed. I hadn’t mentioned it because I was embarrassed about it so when she raised it, I felt uncomfortable. She also raised a minor breach of safety rules that someone had already discussed with me. Isn’t this bullying behaviour?
A: Performance conversations which are reasonable management action carried out in a reasonable manner will not be considered bullying. Leaders are empowered to lift the performance of their teams, including by setting performance standards and holding employees to those standards through coaching that is respectful and constructive. If safety rules (or provisions of Our Code) are breached, leaders are entitled to provide firm, clear and reasonable feedback. In the context of a performance conversation, it might cross the line and become bullying if a leader provides feedback by shouting, swearing and using belittling language.This is unacceptable.
Q; I am a maintenance contractor trainee and the trainer for my crew has been really supportive, but now the trainer is paying me more attention than others in the crew. The other night after a work function, they asked me to go back to their place. I feel very uncomfortable, scared of losing my job and not sure what to do because I’m only halfway through my training program.
A: It’s not ok for a trainer to try and start a romantic or intimate relationship with any trainee, considering the power imbalance between you and the trainer. Talk to your 2Up leader immediately or contact your Employee Relations advisor, HR Business Partner, Ethics Support Service or EthicsPoint. You can also talk to a colleague or someone you trust for support within the business.
Q: A member of the team I lead is gay and shares the change rooms with other men. I told him I don’t feel comfortable about this and asked him to wait until everyone else has left before entering. He said this is bullying, but I want the rest of the team to feel safe. What should I do?

A: We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and diverse workplace where people feel safe and can be themselves. So, it’s not ok to exclude a member of your team from the change rooms because of their sexual orientation or to reinforce a culture of homophobia within the team. It’s disrespectful, discriminatory and a clear breach of Our Code. It’s incumbent on all of us – and especially in your role as a leader – to make sure the workplace is safe for everyone regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, cultural background or any of the many other facets that comprise our diverse organisation. While many of our employees and contractors face challenges you may not understand, as a leader you are expected to role model inclusivity, empathy and respect.

To increase your understanding and raise awareness of LGBT inclusion within the team, read our LGBT+ Inclusive Language Guide, enrol in one of our LGBT inclusion awareness courses or reach out to Jasper, our LGBT+ ally employee network for advice.

View more Hypothetical Scenarios

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