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JEN KELLY The Industrial Abseiler “In the mid-200
0s I had been volunteering as a stagehand at the Melbourne Women’s Circus. I cannot overstate the deep impact that this organisation had upon me. Being immersed in that environment, among their diverse crew of technically capable women, really twisted my melon – Franca, the head rigger, was an especially big influence on me. In those days, I was living in a warehouse with a wild bunch. We had circus aerials hanging from our roof, so I used to come home from work, play records and climb on the silks. My body was growing stronger, and a friend who worked as an industrial abseiler suggested that I also take up the profession for a living. He pointed out that my retail job paid peanuts and abseiling in construction would improve my lifestyle no end – so I went for it! “Industrial abseiling is a multi-dimensional construction job, employed when scaffolding, elevated work platforms and so forth prove difficult, or impossible, to set up – i.e. the ground may be unsuitable. You end up working with a variety of tradespeople on tasks such as painting, glazing, rendering, or concrete repairs. I’ve worked all over the world: on skyscrapers in London and Melbourne, on wind turbines in the North Sea, on bridges, oil rigs, sports stadiums. Sometimes I dangled above forests near the Arctic circle and once over a school of sharks in the Indian ocean! It has been incredible. I am immensely grateful for those experiences, for the skills I have learned and for the people who led me toward those opportunities. “When I first started working on the ropes, I was fortunate in that there were already a couple of women working at the company that I joined. Like Ireland, Australia faces diversity issues within their industrial workforce, but are still further ahead in their progress – the notion of female tradies is not as alien there as it seems to have been here. Outside of this country, you’ll find grassroots networks for tradeswomen that have operated for over 30 years. They have affected the individual lives of women, influenced policy change and alleviated skills shortages. In my first few years in construction, I was aware of these networks but didn’t think that I personally needed them, until I came back to Ireland – then my perspective shifted. There wasn’t much work for abseilers in this city when I returned, so I sought out other work: labouring, apprenticeships and so forth. Recruiters kept turning me down, I got responses like, ‘Who are you looking for this job for?’ or ‘You do know it’s dirty work, right?’ It became clear that my capability was doubted because of my female name on an application, or my physical size, and it was standing in the way of me getting the work I wanted. If it was this difficult for a woman with years of experience in the industry, how hard must it have been for women who had none? “From this frustration rose Women In Trades Network Ireland (WITNI), which turns three this September. I wanted to make an impact on the visual landscape of our industries, telling the career stories of Irish tradeswomen to encourage others who harboured a desire to work on the tools. I’m now contacted on a weekly basis by women looking for trades, careers, guidance… We also work with companies looking to diversify their workforce, and that’s a really rewarding experience. At this early stage, we are in contact with around 100 tradeswomen across the country who possess a wide range of skillsets, It became clear that my capability was doubted because of my female name on an application. with our numbers ever on the increase. Many of these women have, in turn, assisted or mentored new women on the scene. “One by one, past, present and future tradeswomen are connecting across Ireland. We hold peer networking events three or four times a year, while some of the activities in our meet-ups include trying out the latest power tools, exploring aeroplane engines, and running a focus group on workwear. There’s a fantastic atmosphere among the women, many of whom are the only female in their workforce: a bunch of them have documented their trajectory so far on our website’s Career Stories. “Workwear is a longstanding challenge for tradeswomen; it can feel like a needle in a haystack scenario at times. Between oversized gloves or sleeves that are too long, it’s not just the issue of feeling like kids dressed up in your parents’ clothes – it’s actually a genuine health and safety issue. If you’re working at heights, taking nuts and bolts out of things that you can’t afford to drop, you wanna have really good-fitting gear, that has no risk of catching on something. There are some smaller, female-fronted brands from abroad that we love, while here in Ireland, Snickers Workwear is expanding their women’s range. Last year, ten of the tradeswomen in our WITNI network helped to test-pilot a new womens class 3, hi-vis work trouser for Snickers, which is now available to buy. Additionally, five of us crowdfunded our way to the biggest tradeswomen’s conference in the world: we were the first female Irish group to attend that event! (I had travelled alone the previous year). We went there dressed in Snickers gear which got a great response from our overseas tradie counterparts. “As a nation, we need to better support our diversifying labour workforce, figure out ways to improve industrial sustainability and put ourselves ahead in the game, both technically and creatively. People still question whether women are capable of these physical careers. It’s a boring debate, and gendering jobs isn’t helping anyone. Name any trade in an industrial environment, and I will tell you stories of the women who have thrived in those roles.” 24