As a female tradie, there are a few things that I used to do to protect myself and my tools onsite. Here’s 5 things I did, especially at the beginning of my apprenticeship.
Reminder: If you are not working in a safe work environment, please reach out and contact organisations like Mates in Construction for support. I too have been the victim of sexual assault and harassment on site.
1. Voice Memo Apps
Apple’s Voice Memo app is a permanent shortcut on my phone. I could always open it discreetly to recording if I was ever in a situation where I did not feel safe. Quite often I would find myself working alone in a section of a building.
I had to learn this the hard way when I had a co-worker who tried to pull me off a ladder, while I was working alone in an apartment unit. I’ve worked with dodgy supervisors and project managers. I’ve even had a health and safety officer message me for sex. When ever I felt unsafe, I would discreetly turn on my voice memo app (or video app) on my phone. Of, course I would delete the recording later.
2. Carrying a Second Phone
On some commercial sites, you’re required to sign in with your phone number for emergency purposes. Some places I’ve worked at had sign-in books where you would list all your details. Hence, especially at the beginning of my apprenticeship, I got into the habit of writing down my second phone number if it was not going to be kept private.
For many tradie girls, carrying around a work phone or a separate phone number is a must. Many of us don’t give out our personal phone number, as it is a common practise for it to be passed around to different people with ill intentions.
I’ve been stalked. On one particular site, I had another tradie follow me to the basement carpark where everyone would park their cars. We were all required to put our company name and phone number on our dashboards, just incase we had to move our cars.
Turns out that someone had followed me at least on one occasion, but had mistakenly grabbed the my co-worker’s phone number(his car was parked in front of mine). Thinking that he was texting me, the guy was insistent that we meet privately.
My co-worker, lovely father who was double my size, agreed to show up on my behalf. Needless to say, that person never bothered me again.
3. Using Physical Locks for my Tools
Site break ins are quite a common occurrence, and I’ve worked on sites where you just did not leave your tools lying around. Using physical locks was more of a deterrent to prevent people from touching my stuff. In practise however anyone can break a lock if they had a grinder,
At some point while working on one particular commercial site, I realised that some of my tools and snacks were being taken from my bag. So I developed the habit of always locking my tools in my site bag or roll-on toolbox, if I was going back to the office container for break. Anyone could break into my tools, but you would have to go out of your way to take them.
4. AirTags on my Tools
Following the point above, theft is common on big construction sites. I’ve bought packs of AirTags and hidden them in all of my tools. It’s also been a great way to keep track of my tools, just incase I forget to bring them home or leave them on site.
I usually keep AirTags hidden in a lot of my more expensive tools, especially my testers. You can get special plastic covers that are quite discrete and keep them hidden.
5. Location Sharing
Being able to share my whereabouts via Apple Location sharing app has given me a peace of mind. This has been really handy especially since I now drive to different jobs on a daily basis, and can work long hours.
Early into my apprenticeship, my co-workers would often just disappear from site. One time I was left alone to install cable try on my own. (Not something you do by yourself.) I quickly got into the habit of sharing my location with friends and family. Even today, my parter and I actively share our locations via Apple’s Location Sharing App. It has giving me a lot of reassurance that we know where each of us are.
You’re at the end…
These were some things that I did while I was navigating through some not-so-safe jobs. I’m at a much better time of my life, surrounded by good co-workers and clients. If you’re going to be in the trades, you deserve to have all the security and support that you can get. Always work in the best interests of your own safety.
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