Shifts

I had appeared for an interview for a leadership position at a well recognised organisation. The domain and technical round was completed. In the last round for the interview the HR representative had come up with certain questions. While ending the interview the last question that was asked me about the working hours, "this position requires the person to work in rotational shifts. Would you be comfortable to work in the night?"
Before answering the question I asked the HR representative the time at which the night shift would start.
They said, "it depends. It may start at 6 o'clock in the evening or 9:00 or even at 1 o'clock in the night. Would you be okay with that?"
I had a worked in night shifts earlier so I was comfortable with it. However I did not want to give my answer in an easy way. I asked them to further elaborate on the requirements of the night shift such as if I was required to travel on my own or company transport would be provided. I asked them if there would be a higher compensation for working in the night shift. I also asked what safety measures had been in place for ensuring the safety of employees at night.
I saw that my questions had been bothering the HR representative, " if you do not want to work in the night shift you can say so". I saw that they did not want to answer the valid questions.
" I never said that I would not work in the night shift. If I am required to work in the night shift I must know these basic necessities. Based on what you confirm I would decide if I wish to work in the night shift. I have worked in the night shift with my previous organisation so I know I can work in night as well. However if there are no safety measures then I would not be willing to work in unsafe environments," I responded to the interviewer.
" Are you suggesting that our environment is not safe enough?" The HR representative looked offended.
" I never said that your environmental was not safe enough. But you are not providing me any assurance that it is safe enough," I retaliated.
After a few minutes of tense back and forth, the HR representative revealed, " look I am asking this question as per the protocol. Nobody works in the night shift here because everybody has concerns towards safety. As per our policy this is one of the questions to be asked to the candidates and that is why I am asking it to you. You can say yes or no and we will be good to close with the interview".

But for me it was not a simple yes or no question. It was much deeper than that. It was a question of safety consitring I am a woman. This question felt inappropriate to me because they did not have any evidence to back their claim whether the workplace was safe enough. Without the safety framework such questions should not be asked if what I believe. Hence according to me this question should not have been asked in the interview when the company itself did not have enough measures to ensure that employees working at night would feel safe.

Needless to say I did not join that company.