I feel conflicted on job role as a woman

[blueberry2105]

I am training to be a van driver for the company I work for. It involves being alone and sometimes driving over an hour away from the store. Lifting heavy boxes from heights above my head.

I'm 5ft 2 and weight 9.8st the lifting isn't a massive issue. I enjoy driving I like the adventure I like the customers so far they are lovely.

But one woman customer came out and made a massive point of saying how great she thinks a female delivery driver is and she's really happy that I'm training said we need more women in the job role and she was proud of me and good luck with it all.

Now this made me feel proud but conflicted because even though I'm loving the job I'm far from home visiting peoples houses in remote areas sometimes with no phone signal, and in the dark which will only get worse in winter. Why do I feel that maybe this is more suited to a man? I am 100% for women in the role but I almost feel more vulnerable than a man. Am I just being silly? Or is it normal to feel this vulnerable sometimes? Why do I feel being male would make me feel more protected.

Can anyone shed any experience or opinions on this as I love the job but I don't want to be an advocate for female drivers when even I don't feel 100% on women drivers 🤣

Please don't be mean I sometimes don't word things correctly and deep down I think more women should have these opportunities but why should we have to think about safety?

And here you have expressed, very eloquently, the barriers to women's equality:
Yes you should be able to do any job that you are physically capable of and want to do
no the world is not fair or equal: women are more vulnerable to some crimes and it's not fair.

This.

Good on you training for a job you enjoy.

I have had jobs previously that involved driving long distances and lone working remotely. Personally I never had an issue, but of course the potential is there. If you are concerned about safety look up the Susie Lamplugh Trust, they have allot of great advice for keeping safe in these situations.

www.suzylamplugh.org/

Don't forget that your employer has a legal responsibility for your safety - what have they done to assess the risks and mitigate them? (Camera on your vehicle or person? tracking your location? regular check-in with your supervisor? I don't know what works be reasonable in your industry)

*would be reasonable

And men are more vulnerable to others. It’s also not fair that nearly all deaths at work involve men, but we don’t seem to view that as being a bar to them doing those jobs, so what’s the issue in this case?

This isn't a thread about H&S though. Lets not derail it with whataboutery.

I think any man or woman has the choice do a job despite its dangers. But I'm questioning the fact that I am proud to do a job like this but still feel that if I was male I would feel safer. I'm not saying it's fair that men do more dangerous jobs etc

Do more men die at work because they are more likely to be in an industry that uses heavy machinery, working at height etc than women? These are male dominated environments, but surely a woman doing the exact same job on that construction site or in that factory is at the exact same risk of death or injury.

A male lorry driver however is not at the same level at risk doing the exact same as a woman for the reasons given.

I used to work in a job that meant going to some possibly dodgy houses after dark. I was pretty confident so I never worried. However, I remember once going to a three storey block of flats at 4.30 in winter so it was dark. The hall lights were on timers and gave the residents enough time to get from the lift to their door, and then switched off. I went to the third floor and knocked on the door of a man that could gave been polite or a nutter - I didn't know. And the lights went off. I realised for the first time what a perilous situation I was putting myself in. It's scary and it deflates your confidence.

You have to remember that it's highly inlikely anything will ever happen but you need to put in a system that leaves you protected. That could be having 999 on your phone ready to be pressed immediately. Telling a colleague where you are, or having them on an open line so they can listen to your conversations.

Women definitely are more vulnerable so we need always to minimise our risk. The only person I can remember being attacked was a male colleague, although I did have things thrown at me!

Women are more vulnerable than men in certain ways, it’s a fact of human nature that we’re stuck with. Life isn’t fair, all you can do is try to assess risks and use common sense when it comes to your personal safety - which goes for men as well as women.

It’s a thread where someone suggested that women, being more vulnerable, are excluded from some jobs. It’s hardly unrelated to point out that if that were really the case then there are an awful lot of jobs that men would be excluded from too.

There is no reason for the OP not to be a delivery driver. Bringing up “what if” scenarios about very unlikely events doesn’t make much sense.

Males are probably not actually safer - overall men are more at risk of stranger danger

Yes certain types of assault but not all

What if scenarios are the very basis of good safeguarding policies. Most businesses should have a lone worker policy and since the awful disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh, these policies should also take into account the added risks lone female workers dace.

Its dreadful if men are injured or killed at work. Obviously.

But let's not kid ourselves it's the same as risks women may face from men due to biology differences. Mainly coz it tends not to be a deliberate act .

no the world is not fair or equal: women are more vulnerable to some crimes and it's not fair.

Women are vulnerable primarily to men's crimes and men are the majority of perpetrators.

OP, if you are concerned re the possibility of attack during a remote delivery, why not take a self defence course?
Something like krav maga will teach you how to drop any size of opponent to the floor, allowing you time to escape to your van and drive away.
It also teaches how to break a choke hold when grabbed from behind.
Once you are confident that you can incapacitate any attacker, you will able to relax and enjoy your job. You will also not be giving off any “vulnerable” vibes or nervous body language, for predators to pick up.

In a thread about women in jobs, you had to bring up 'what about men'.

Can we not just for once in a fucking lifetime have a thread about women?

OP I agree with you. I worked in construction in the 90s, and had to go to various places on my own, to take soil samples, pick up this and that, drop off stuff and that's well before mobile phones. I then worked in a mobile job where I'd have to go to construction companies, many of which of the smaller companies were based at their home addresses. And we did install a buddy system and used various techniques to make sure someone knew where we were and what to do if we weren't out by a certain time.

These days if I was a manager of a mobile team I'd have some sort of group on what's app or something just for the end of day meetings so that we could sign in and off each day just to be sure. It would be quite easy to manage, postcodes and times in, and report that you are out each time you leave a meeting or venue.

Obviously I'd do it for all the team.

Could you carry a personal alarm?

I am always so pleased when a woman turns up for deliveries.

"Once you are confident that you can incapacitate any attacker, you will able to relax and enjoy your job. You will also not be giving off any “vulnerable” vibes or nervous body language, for predators to pick up."

I think this is quite dangerous advice and might give someone a false sense of security.

Do more men die at work because they are more likely to be in an industry that uses heavy machinery, working at height etc than women? These are male dominated environments, but surely a woman doing the exact same job on that construction site or in that factory is at the exact same risk of death or injury.

yes, it is true that men are at more risk from workplace accidents, as you say. But if women did exactly the same jobs, they would be at more risk, mainly because of the equipment not being made to fit their physical requirements. The book Invisible Women is good for lots on this

Absolutely this!

My local DPD delivery person is a woman, I’ve a bit of a crush on her 🤭

She handles heavy boxes magnificently! 🤷‍♀️

This is exactly the issue.

An example. When I started they had bags that would take up to 40 kg of materials like sand etc. Everyone except the ex army guys would struggle with these and there was a Machi culture of being too sissy to carry them.when I was promoted I ordered half size bags, iteamt we had to take 2 samples for each 1 of the old bags but we could lift them, the plastic could actually be a lighter gauge and they were actually cheaper. All the ex army guys took the piss but all the younger lads actually thanked me for this because it actually caused them as much pain as they caused me.