Someone will be in trouble for this
May 27, 2011Sent to me via email:
I’ve worked for enough mining and resources companies and for health and safety departments and software companies to know that someone had great fun creating this. However, the power of the internet is such that what may have started out as an in-house, small department joke has likely gone viral and the person who created it may well be disciplined.
That said, it is clever! ;-)
Rhonda, you were right about this one. I heard from a reliable
BHP Billiton employee that the BHPB full time staff who constructed this notice (using an official form) was fired on the spot. You will also notice that the image is a photo of the form on a computer monitor. An employee from a contracting firm took this picture and spread it via email. That company’s entire contract was immediately terminated!
You’re right Rhonda. You cannot afford to joke about work place safety issues with these companies. The joke was so good that it went viral so I think BHPB had no choice to make an example of these emploees.
Hi Jun
Yes, it went viral in more ways than one. It was in the Business section of ‘The West Australian’ newspaper on Saturday 28 May 2011, then ‘The West’ had a couple of reports about the sacking of the individuals and the termination of the contractor’s contract over the next few days.
I agree that BHP Billiton had no choice but to take action, especially as those involved used the BHP Billiton logo and name. Had those who made it couched it as a more generic ‘safety’ message, they might have got away with it as a bit of harmless fun, but these large companies are very protective of how and under what circumstances their brand is used.