Jordan’s food delivery workers toil under heat, susceptible to accidents

AMMAN — Food delivery workers are expressing their concern over challenging working conditions during the summer months, with many citing intense heat, time pressures and a lack of industry guidelines as complicating obstacles in their work.

Speaking with The Jordan Times on Wednesday, Omar Awad, president of the Jordan Association for Restaurants and Sweet Shops Owners, said that “delivery operators are more susceptible to accidents [than other drivers], because while delivering their order, they are usually distracted by their phones while trying to locate their customers’ location”.

As home food delivery becomes increasingly popular, there is a heightened need to address the rise of potentially inexperienced and distracted delivery drivers on the road, he said. 

Ghassan Tareq, a food delivery worker, said that he had been in two serious accidents since he began the job. He pointed out that food delivery workers are under a lot of pressure to deliver orders on time, given that customers can see the estimated time of delivery, which puts them in a stressful position

“Summer heat has taken a toll on us and it is so difficult for us, especially during the afternoons,” he said.

Sami Abu Ghosh, another delivery worker, told The Jordan Times that because the delivery service sector in Jordan is growing significantly, it is absolutely necessary to develop a set of guidelines to manage the occupational risks faced by delivery service workers.

“What I can say is that today, delivery workers need better protection given that we are more susceptible to accidents and are the most vulnerable on roads, especially workers who use motorcycles,” Abu Ghosh said.