friend too obese for volunteer role....how to explain not suitable....!

[earsup]

A volunteer role has popped up at our local fabric recycle centre, people and shops donate rolls and bits, we sort it out and price it up and put on shelves. not a lot of space between shelves and lots of crawling around on floor to retrieve bits and bending. Obese ...sort of friend wants to join us, she is very thick skinned and quite self entitled, I was just thinking of saying that you need to be quite agile for the role and say no more....She wouldn't be able to get between the shelves and wouldn't be able to bend down etc.

I think you need a rethink of your set up. If you're a charity then you really need to be more inclusive. If an obese person can't move between the shelves, how would a wheelchair user manage? And why does every volunteer need to do every task? The work could be split so less mobile people did the pricing up for example, while the more physically able did the manual work. Its very difficult to recruit and retain decent volunteers. If you have unecessary barriers in place that mean you're excluding people with certain body types and disabilities from a role they could perform if you made some straightforward adjustments, you're missing out on some valuable help.

Also bear in mind she's volunteering. If she can't do some aspects of the role does it matter? She's still donating her time for the bits she can do

A volunteer is a volunteer and most people can’t be picky

As a Volunteer Coordinator I'd say these views over simplify the role of a volunteer.
Interviews, risk assessments, volunteer agreements, inductions, shift planning and personal development plans are all involved.
You don't just meet someone who you like and build a role around them, never mind the needs of the business and whether the person can do the volunteer role advertised

Does this place with not much room between shelves etc fit all the relevant health and safety regulations I wonder

Also we absolutely can be picky, we get approx five to ten applications for every volunteer role advertised. It has to be the right applicant for the role to work for them and the organisation.

The work could be split so less mobile people did the pricing up for example, while the more physically able did the manual work.

This could mean virtually doubling the volunteer workforce, which is unnecessary, time consuming and can be expensive.

No every role, every job or every career is suitable for everyone everywhere.

Also, depending on the area and roles offered, volunteers aren't necessarily hard to find. My place of work has never struggled to recruit or retain them.

Hmm… I am older and obese and crawling around on the floor would not be for me. But I work with a very large lady who is up and down off the floor with absolute ease and who would have no issues whatsoever taking on this kind of role.

Yes, I'm not sure what a fire officer would think of such narrow gaps between storage areas containing something which would be highly combustible in a fire.

Exactly! 👏👏👏

Businesses have to make reasonable adjustments and that is specific to their business needs and the practicalities of the job

It wouldnt be a reasonable adjustment to change the tasks of a role or the physicality of a space beyond what can reasonably be changed because of disability

Otherwise we would have blind people driving buses.

Maybe she's wanting to do it to improve her activity levels? Let her try?

Mealy mouth use of the word "obese" there. If your friend is too fat to do what you say she is probably super obese. Just say fat and maybe and unfit.

"Sort of friend" yeah, I know your type. 😏.
You have judged her before she's even had a chance.

Being cruel to be kind here but maybe if she did a stint she'd realise how much of an issue her weight is, and it might motivate her to do something about it? I was overweight in my early twenties, and remember being motivated to change when I stooped down to open the door of a small cupboard in work and was so clumsy with the excess weight I couldn't straighten up properly and ended up falling down and breaking one of the hinges! Total embarrassment. It's like the person who can't fit properly in the airline seat - it's a wake up call for some people.

Treat her equally as you would any other applicant for the role.

You cannot discriminate against or make assumptions based on her size - what you should do is to be clear to all applicants that the role is a very physical one, squeezing past one another in narrow aisles, crawling on the floor and being active on your feet for 8 hours or whatever it is, and ask them to let you know if they would have any difficulty with any of the elements that you have described. If she says yes and tells you what she would and wouldn't be able to do, you (the three of you) can make a fair decision about if you are able to make reasonable adjustments or not, the same as you would with anybody who applies who has a disability or other health/physicality need. If she says no, you have to take her on her word and assess her equally among the other candidates, and if she then goes on to struggle with, avoid or opt out of elements that are a problem because they are required for her role, that's a separate conversation to be had with her, preferably by somebody whose relationship with her is purely of this role i.e. not her friend beforehand like you,

As you know and are friends with her before she even applies for the post, I would make it clear to the organisation that you need to out of all recruitment and management of this particular person so as to avoid any accusations of bias or favouritism. They should have a policy for conflict of interest.

I'd also tell her too that you can't be involved in the recruitment process or decision for her, and point her to publicly available recruitment pack/advert/application form and contact, and keep the heck out.

It's one thing being concerned for her health (although it comes across that you just don't like her very much), but I wouldn't assume she is "thick skinned".
She probably puts on a front to mask how she feels.
Chances are she goes home and cries behind the scenes.

Merapi · Today 16:16

Summerhillsquare · Today 14:41

To be honest the workplace needs to start doing risk assessments, nobody . should be crawling at work or squeezing into tight spaces, regardless.

Yes, I'm not sure what a fire officer would think of such narrow gaps between storage areas containing something which would be highly combustible in a fire.

I would imagine HSE and their health and safety officer should also be involved for risk of things falling off the shelves, workplace acquired injuries from lifting, bending and reaching at unhelpful angles, and boy do I hope those racks are all secured to the floor properly so that they cannot fall onto a person and crush them.

Define narrow. If somebody is like 500-800lb level obese the gaps might be absolutely fine.

Is tripping an obese thing?

I trip because I have an invisable disability that effect my motor functions... refusing a job based on that would be discrimination if you where caught.

Just leave her to it OP.

What a thoroughly nasty way to speak about someone.

Shame on you @earsup

You sound like you're gatekeeping this role out of jealously as you don't want someone else you know taking the shine off of you.

If she has a trial, she'll either manage it or she won't. You don't need to do anything. Except maybe stay in your own lane.

It's not only about the candidate's size. OP has said she's rude, entitled and doesn't listen.

Volunteering doesn't mean getting away with incompetence and bad manners. (OK, we can all think of volunteers who do get away with it ...) There are other volunteers in this team, ones who do the job as required. How long do you all think they're going to carry on giving up their time & effort if made to work with a stroppy individual who can only do half the job?

I was obese at size 16, no issues walking 20 miles a day or doing any amount of physical work including crawling etc. if your friend can’t get up, walk or fit between shelves it sounds as if her issues are much more serious.

So you’re not a friend, yet you visit her in her home…….?

OP also said she was a friend, which further in turned out to be untrue……