On International Women’s Day (8th March 2022), NARU’s Jenna Davies reflects on HART’s recent Gender Profile Meeting.
On 21 Feb, NARU has hosted its first Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) Gender Profile meeting which brought together females (and those who associate themselves as female) from all over the UK to discuss some of the issues they face, and the barriers they experience whilst working in HART.
Some of these included Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Equality and Diversity and Recruitment and Retention.
Experiences were shared and ideas and solutions were discussed in how to tackle some of these issues and hopefully provide an inclusive environment that results in more females wanting to join HART.
The passion and excitement within the meeting was felt by many, and I personally felt empowered knowing that as a group we could combine efforts to make a positive change.
It must be be noted however that some sadness was also felt regarding the experiences that many had encountered and how this made them feel personally. The establishment of this group aims to prevent others or future applicants from experiencing these same issues.
Jenna Davies, NARU Improvement Manager
Learn more about International Women’s Day here, and check out the activity on social media on Twitter at #IWD2022.