JEDDAH: Saudi Aramco has apologized after a foreign employee was asked to dress as a human hand sanitizer dispenser.
The company attracted criticism yesterday after an image was circulated online of a masked employee walking around Saudi Aramco’s offices wearing a body suit with a hand sanitizer attached.
Saudi Aramco tweeted: “With regard to the image circulating on social media of a colleague dressed as a sterilization package in one of the facilities, Saudi Aramco would like to express their strong disappointment with this insulting behavior which intended to place an emphasis on the importance of sterilization, without prior consent from the concerned party in the company.”
“The company halted this act immediately and has taken strict measures to prevent such action from happening again,” they continued in a thread. “The company emphasizes its firm stance for policies that are based on respect and adherence to ethics and conduct.”
Many Saudis were upset by the action of those who had made the employee dress like this. Although the intention may have been to raise awareness of the importance of keeping hands clean by using sanitizer, the image evoked anger as many stories of racism and exploitation have been circulating around the world.
Some Twitter users called on Aramco to compensate the worker and pay for damages.
“The picture is horrible, the worker must be compensated financially and morally,” one user said.
Another added: “We hope that the individual who gave the orders to wear that thing as if he was a robot or a doll, controlling humans whichever way he wants, is punished severely.”
Barjas H. AlBarjas, a former consultant in the strategic management division of Saudi Aramco, tweeted: “Saudi Aramco does not allow any violations to work regulations and instructions and going ahead with a job without prior consent,” adding, “(Aramco) is taking strict measures in order to ensure the action is not repeated again and this is what we have been promised by Aramco.”
