Job Dilemma

Actually more of a hypothetical at this point.

My employer is contemplating doing some creel surveys (these are surveys of anglers regarding their fishing trips) at NIGHT. The details are unimportant except that they would be at night, sometimes in remote areas and we would be doing them alone for the most part. First of all the last time they did this they got very little information for the effort expended. Secondly, I believe this is dangerous for a couple of reasons. The remoteness of some of these areas attracts some unsavory people- gang members in some places. At some of the ramps there are a lot of break-ins of vehicles and thefts because there is no law enforcement presence. And we would be alone and interviewing people who may be doing illegal things. So as a woman this concerns me greatly. Perhaps my fear is unwarranted. I do not want to be treated differently but I feel that no one should be doing these surveys alone. The second reason is that when you work at night (I am talking 10 pm to 3 or 4 in the morning or thereabouts) and it isn't a regular thing, it really screws with your sleep schedule and can be potentially dangerous- falling asleep at the wheel for example would be very easy to do. So far no one seems to give a rat's ass about my concerns.

In fact I think if this comes to pass, I will quit, even if I do not have another job. I am about to apply for a promotion and, if I got it, it would be hard to leave that job, because it would essentially be my dream job but I would still have to do this project. There are plenty of other places in which I would not have to do such things. I sincerely hope it does not come to pass.

But if I do not get this promotion, I would be looking for another job anyway; this project would just be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.

If that is the project that they want done. If it is a larger company, perhaps, you can try to get assigned to a different project.
As for as night work, many companies have night work. People usually know that night work is involved when they apply to jobs but sometimes people are moved around and people may be left between having to work at night or be laid off.
As far as the safety thing, men tend to not think about safety (from other people) as much. If your superviser and coworkers are men, I don't know a good way to get them to understand. I couldn't get my safety concern, the fact that the parking lot wasn't lit, addressed either.
What kind of job do you currently have? Is there anything comparable in your geographical area?

to do this project anyway. I will talk to my boss and ask him if they are prepared to address these concerns. Otherwise someone will get hurt eventually. That is probably the only way they will wake up. And if it does happen, I hope they sue the pants off them.

And of course they could decide it isn't worth the effort for what they get anyway. I hope that's the case.

For a variety of reasons, I can't stand my job much of the time so it is time to move on, one way or another. This would just be the excuse to do it right now, instead of hanging around hoping for it to improve.

FYI - they have decided since this happens that they will always work in pairs in the future.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13598336/detail.html

You said they get very little useful information from the survey. You could probably get on a fishing website and ask the people for opinions or just read the posts and get a feel for what their opinion is.
NO I would not go to boat ramps late at night. As you said there could be anything going on there. There is lot that could go wrong. I would be concerned as a man approaching strangers, I would absolutely not do it if I were female.

Actually they want to target flounder fishermen. A lot of them fish at night, under lights. The concern is that they are overfished. The real problem is that they are caught in large numbers in shrimp trawls and that is having a huge impact on the population. But no one wants to put the blame where it really belongs, on the shrimpers. They have made a lot of changes to the regulations and the amount of effort in the shrimp fishery has been reduced by a number of factors but we are not seeing increases in the flounder population. So they want to study the amount of recreational or commercial fishing that targets them and change THOSE regs as well. The previous surveys (15 years ago or more) had very little in the way of results, at least in our area, so I am not sure if doing it again would actually show anything different.

I just love how employers love to play with the lives of their workers. The people making the decisions are not the ones that have to be out there, collecting useless information. I don't know that the risk is all that great. But it still scares me to be in a dim parking lot alone.

Considering they are liable for your safety on the job, is it really a wise idea to send someone out alone at night to these locations?
I still advocate pencil whipping it, if things haven't changed from the last survey just repeat the results. I believe your safety is more important than a useless survey.

It states that we work occasional weekends and hours other than 8-5. So it's in there but I think I have a right to make my concerns known and I certainly hope that they address them in some acceptable manner. I am sure if this occurred to me, it has probably occurred to others as well.

I read all you said about the situation and conditions.
Have you asked the bosses or whoever came up with this hare-brained scheme if they're prepared for the liabilities they're about to shoulder. How much it will cost the state if one of you is injured or killed? And how they'll like the tons of bad publicity they'll get if something does happen?

They seriously need to re-think this.
It is beyond stupid.
If anybody would do it, it should be two armed game wardens.