Digital platform workers risk their lives with deliveries
Attempts at hijacking and theft, often using violence, are a common reality for people working for food delivery and ride-hailing apps such as Mr D and Uber Eats. Driving through the city alone, carrying a phone and often cash, they are obvious targets.
For five years, the Fairwork project has been studying the employment conditions of people working on digital platforms, including the risks they face at work. In 2024, once again, almost all workers interviewed reported having been personally assaulted at work, some being held at gunpoint or physically injured.
Hoping to avoid these situations, some drivers reject rides to dangerous areas or at certain times of the day. However, with the current costof-living crisis taking a toll on their already limited earnings, platform workers are being compelled to take more risks than they would normally.
Another critical safety risk arises from tension with taxi drivers. During our research, we found examples of taxi drivers harassing e-hailing drivers, and even demanding bribes when they stop at areas they control.
Off the streets, another group that finds jobs via apps — domestic workers — also face daily threats to their safety and security. Many female domestic workers reported feeling insecure about working in the houses of strangers. In a country with dramatic rates of sexual violence, the fear of being a victim of sexual abuse or abduction is a real concern.
The cleaners and care workers interviewed by Fairwork reported feeling particularly unsafe when the exact location and full contact details are not provided at the time of booking.
What are the companies involved doing to protect their workers? Over the past five years, we have seen some platform companies take proactive measures to mitigate these risks. For example, the delivery platform Uber Eats implemented a panic button for emergency situations. However, workers reported that it does not always work, and that the response time is too slow for sudden situations such as robbery.
Another food delivery platform, Mr D Food, has taken a more preventative approach: it monitors incidents of theft, robbery and accidents to take location-specific measures such as banning cash payments, allowing workers not to wear branded uniforms, or ceasing to operate — permanently or temporarily — in areas with high levels of crime or unrest. However, sealing off areas from business could also have negative consequences for already economically and socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods and townships.
In the case of domestic workers, home services company SweepSouth has taken important steps. It instructs workers on how to act in emergencies, and has set up SOS helplines via phone and WhatsApp. In addition, workers report that the company still pays them for a job if they decide to leave due to safety concerns.
Still, these measures are not sufficient to prevent widespread safety concerns. Therefore, workers have come up with their own strategies to keep safe, such as tracking and recording calls or creating WhatsApp groups to inform each other about their location and warn about suspicious activity or dangerous clients.
The fact that platforms are taking proactive measures to protect their workers should be welcomed and acknowledged. However, relying on selfregulation has proved to leave big gaps in security and safety. As independent contractors, workers on digital platforms are not provided with the protections and guarantees of regular employees.
That should not be an excuse for regulators to avoid tackling this important issue. A national mandate guided by dialogue with platform workers and their representatives could ensure basic safety measures and ensure no more platform worker lives are lost.