Telling everyone they need to treat a fire drill just like they would if it were a real fire might sound like a good idea, but it really backfires in today’s story.
A safety officer doesn’t understand the consequences of making literally everyone evacuate for a fire drill. He had to learn his lesson the hard way!
Let’s see how the story plays out…
My great uncle passed away at 97 and I heard this great story of malicious compliance at his memorial service today.
He worked for over 50 years at the same confectionery factory and for most of that time he was a boiler room attendant.
This was just after WW2 and at the time most of the machines and processes were powered by steam, even the heating.
The steam was generated by massive boilers and it was his job to monitor the boilers to make sure nothing went wrong.
Someone had to watch the boilers 24/7.
These boilers could potentially explode, causing great damage.
By law the boiler had to be attended at all times and there were shifts that watched them around the clock, even when the factory was closed.
They took so long to heat up that it was easier and cheaper to leave them running at night.
There’s a new Safety Officer.
After about ten years of no incidents the company hired a leading hand who would also act as the Safety Officer.
He had been a sergeant in the army and he took his job quite seriously, being quite the disciplinarian.
He instituted a mulititude of new procedures, some warranted, some just to establish control.
The first time he wanted to conduct a fire drill, he went around telling the staff that when they heard the alarm they had to exit the building in an orderly fashion.
Wait, he wants him to leave the boiler room? Uh, oh!
He got to the boiler room and it was my great uncle on duty that day.
He informed him he would not be able to evacuate with everyone else and had to stay with the boiler.
The Safety Officer didn’t give him time to explain why, he just bluntly informed him that he was to treat the fire drill as if it was a real fire, no exceptions.
When the fire bell finally rang, my uncle did exactly what he was told to do.
The manager was NOT happy!
He turned off the gas to the boilers, vented all the built up steam, purged the water an joined everyone outside.
At the evacuation point they were doing a head count when the Production Manager spotted my uncle and immediately approached him and asked what he was doing away from the boiler.
He said he was participating in the Fire Drill as instructed but not to worry as he had shut the boiler down completely.
The colour immediately drained from the managers face.
No more fire drills for the boiler room!
He was asked how long it would take to bring the boilers back online.
Apparently it would take hours alone just to fill the boilers with water and heat them up.
The big issue was that because they had done an emergency purge they were required to inspect every pipe, joint and connection for damage before to make sure it was safe to start to reheat.
The other boiler men were called in and they got paid double time to work through the night to get the boiler ready for the next day.
Production Staff all got sent home but still got paid for the day as it wasn’t their fault the factory couldn’t run. It cost them a days production as well.
Safety Officer did keep his job but for the next 40 years the boiler staff were all exempt from fire drills.
Wow, the Safety Officer really should’ve listened!
Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story…
This worker is exempt from fire drills.
The boiler room needs to have it’s own fire drill.
Here’s another vote for a boiler room fire drill simulation.
This reader guessed the ending but still found the story funny.
A safety professional weighs in…
Safety first unless it halts production!
If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.
