Woolworths (Australia’s largest retailer and employer) has sacked eight employees for “planking”, which it considers a breach of health and safety. According to the report, Woolworths’ employees were sacked for planking on:
- A 2m high shelving unit;
- A mincing machine;
- A pile of milk crates;
- Trolleys; and
- Display units.
Some of the planking was photographed and put onto Facebook, where the company discovered it. Woolworths has said that “it’s not about being the fun police; it’s about making sure people are looking out for their own safety”.
This comes after two Australian workers gained world wide publicity after being sacked by Santos for planking on two smoke stacks 60 metres in the air at their refinery in Whyalla, South Australia.
The lying down game made news in the UK in September of 2009, when seven doctors and nurses working at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, England were suspended for playing the lying down game while on duty and wearing uniform. Staff were photographed on planking on resuscitation trollies, ward floors and a heli-pad. Fifteen others were involved in the “game”.
