BHP is deploying new software to underpin an enterprise-wide central record of its contractor workforce.
The miner is deploying software by MyPass Global to handle "contractor onboarding, mobilisation, and management".
To interact with the system, BHP contractors will be assigned "a unique identification number that will follow them across all future BHP engagements."
This will be accessible to contractors via a digital "skills passport".
Australia's Nickel West operations are the first to adopt the technology.
It will be followed by Spence Mine in Chile in January 2023, and then a global rollout across FY2023 to FY2025.
MyPass Global is a member of the federal government's METS [mining equipment, technology and services] Ignited industry group, which aims to improve mining productivity by bringing together miners and local technology companies.
After a successful pilot supported by the NERA Industry Growth Centre, METS Ignite had provided commercialisation funding.
METS Ignite CEO Adrian Beer called the scale of the BHP contract a game-chager, and demonstrated the value of “timely seed funding” for companies like MyPass Global.
Earlier this year, BHP claimed its data automation work had yielded a billion dollars’ worth of value.