Vishal Pai

21st September, 2013

1

Safety For Working Women - Survey and Learnings

Goal of the survey

Understand the perception of

employees on safety of women employee.

Getting suggestions on improving safety .

Survey conducted across 4 companies.

One survey for women and one for men.

Quantitative and qualitative questions

were asked.

Participation

4,150+ Responses

Responses by Women

• Low Awareness

• 68% women not aware of help line numbers

• 44% women not aware of formal policies on safety and prevention of harassment of women at workplace.

• 43% women not aware of the government laws.

Responses by Women

• 30% women do not feel safe to work in the night shift

• 30 % women do not feel safe while travelling from work to home post 7:00 pm

• 21% women do not feel safe on tours and trips if there is no other woman accompanying them

Responses by Men

• 20% men not aware of formal policy on safety and policy against harassment of women at workplace

• 90% men feel it is important for organization to provide formal training on prevention of sexual harassment and women safety issues to all employees

Suggestions on improving Women Safety

1Pre-Emergency 2During

Emergency 3Post Emergency

Pre-Emergency

• Come early, Leave early

• Work from home if work has to be done late night– E.g. Customer calls, Meeting deadlines

Pre-Emergency

• Self Defense Trainings

• Awareness workshops for women and men– Laws, Policies & Consequences– Tips: Pepper, Chillie Spray– Helpline– Do’s, Don'ts via email

Pre-Emergency

• Drunk Driver Checking and Background verification of drivers

• Well Lit parking space and Well Lit space between buildings

• Auto send SMS to near and dear ones when a women employee leaves office late night

Pre-Emergency

• Women cab drivers and Women security guard– What about their safety?

• Late night drop at doorstep

• Background checks on support staff

During Emergency

• Helpline numbers– Store them– Better support facility

• SOS Apps on mobiles

• Use of self defense techniques

Post Emergency

• Women cell / Forums

• Counseling support

• Timely justice and strict actions

Tips• Do not travel alone in lonely areas

• Carry Pepper sprays, Safety Pins, Car keys

• Let near and dear ones know where you are

• Before boarding a cab, bus et al note the number and let near and dear ones know

• Don’t be busy on cellphones. Be alert

• Emergency number should be a click away

If you are keen to understand the perception of your employees on women safety

• Survey links are live– https://www.research.net/s/Safetyatworkplace-Women– https://www.research.net/s/safetyatworkplace-Men

• Simply send the links to your employees. Simply send email to us for getting the results

• If you want to use your own survey mechanism we can also help you with the questionnaire and setup

• Contact mayukh.tejaswi@cii.in for more information