In rail yards or trains, a worker responsible for operating brakes and coupling cars together, or the assistant to the conductor.
From 'brake' (a device for stopping motion) plus 'man,' indicating a male worker whose job involves brake operation on trains.
Brakermen were absolutely crucial to railroad safety but had one of the most dangerous jobs in the 19th century—they had to jump between moving cars to couple them, and many were killed!
The suffix '-man' in occupational terms (breakerman, fireman, policeman) encodes maleness as the default worker, though women have held these roles historically and contemporaneously.
Use 'breaker operator' or gender-neutral occupational terms; if person-specific pronouns are needed, use them based on the individual, not the job title.
["breaker operator","break technician"]
Women have worked in industrial, railway, and machinery roles across centuries; occupational naming conventions that default to '-man' erase their presence and contributions.
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