Uber’s Safety Investigators Are Stressed Out, New Report Suggests
A recently published investigation reveals dozens of Uber safety investigators suffered serious mental health issues over the past year. This report claims employees were reviewing as many as 1,200 safety cases per week under subpar working conditions.
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In total, 75 employees on Uber’s Special Investigations Unit from North America were surveyed for this piece. Uber told reporters it funded this study from an external risk management company to better understand how it could improve its safety standards.
The majority of employees who took part in this study said they felt overworked and underpaid for their efforts. Many of the investigators said they felt emotionally drained after responding to hundreds of disturbing cases per day.
In response to this report, Uber said the security of its customers and employees has always been its highest priority. Uber also noted that the nature of the Special Investigations Unit’s work was similar to other high-stress call responder positions such as 911 Dispatch. For this reason, Uber works hard to screen people applying for these positions and to ensure they are mentally prepared for this serious job.
When asked about the high number of weekly safety cases, Uber pointed out that many of the calls listed in this report were either duplicates or unsubstantiated. While Uber admits many of these calls have a real basis, the 1,200 per week figure isn’t accurate.
Indeed, one investigative report published by CNN found that there were about 103 sexual assault violations filed by Uber passengers from 2014 till 2018. CNN noted, however, that it was only able to gather this data from publically available police records. Across the country, injury lawyers have built pages about Uber injuries for any passengers who were assaulted or injured.
The authors behind this report suggested Uber better compensate its investigators for this stressful work. Currently, investigators receive about $18.50 per hour. As a point of comparison, investigators in the airline industry receive over $20.00 per hour.
Despite the stress of the job, many of the investigators said they were proud to be working for such a dynamic company. Most of the employees in the Special Investigations Unit were between the ages of 20 and 30.
While Uber didn’t say whether it would raise investigators’ pay, the ride-sharing company announced it was working with RapidSOS to better respond to emergency scenarios. RapidSOS is a startup that helps streamline communication between victims and Emergency Crews.
The RapidSOS feature can be found in Uber’s app under the Safety Toolkit. Anyone who feels threatened while in an Uber vehicle can open RapidSOS and quickly get in touch with a local police department.
Uber also said it has made it easier for investigators to get in touch with certified counselors if they felt like they were suffering from fatigue, depression, or anxiety. A few other strategies Uber hopes will help their employees cope with the stress of the job include sensitivity training sessions and flexible working schedules.
For more information on Uber’s official safety standards, please visit this webpage.
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