Underground Miners fired for doing the Harlem Shake!!

15 Western Australian underground mine workers at the Agnew Gold Mine do the Harlem shake, all the miners involved in this incident were fired.

Some of the fired workers were bystanders who did not actually appear in the video.

[HR]

They were fired for removing some of their safety equipment.

[zebatov]

I was watching a twenty-nine minute long news blooper video and about halfway through I caught a chyron at the bottom that said these workers were fired. I Googled it and found this video. Never heard of this before about five minutes ago. Awesome stuff!

[hilaryhatfield]

As a performance coach I find it incredibly sad, not to mention disappointing, that these workers have been dismissed for bringing some fun into the workplace. I do not disregard OHS standards but surely this could have been handled via reprimand not dismissal. The 15 + workers who have been dismissed should partner to form their own business - hot sparkys for In a world rife with depression, anxiety and dress we all need more things to make us smile. Good luck for the future guys.

[skatelife]

I'm an underground miner, I dont think its right to fire them but im not surprised they did. Where I work you can get fired for not wearing your safety glasses, smoking underground, and feeding foxes because we have too many of them on the mine site. They were half naked, and fooking around. Still an epic video!!

[inick]

As if PPE would protect you against a 5-10 ton slab fallying from the backs.
What a pathetic state of affairs for underground workers nowdays.

[pepega]

i am all for having a good time but this is pushing there luck!!! cave ins happen all the time by the smallest trembles and people get trapped underground for days, weeks, even months!!! getting fired saved there lives. not only that as long as they are underground they are getting paid and are under there health insurance if anything wrong happens. this is 100% a liability.

[tmaorraifields]

as a safety advisor i'm ashamed they were sacked because of OHS reasons. This was a bit of fun and I dont see how it has endangered themselves or others more than regular work would. This sort of stuff is why people hate safety advisors and I don't blame them.

[williammccarthy]

I take for the company to do that there would have been 15 skilled replacements readily available on short notice . I also presume they weren't union

[megan]

It was a safety violation because they took off their protection gear. That is a huge no-no with mining. But I think it would of been better if a warning was initiated instead of firing them but, I'm not in the situation so really none of should have the right to pass judgement on whether or not they should of been fired.

[ginamcherron]

This is by far the BEST harlem shake out there! Good work i say :D

[Mikyho]

i worked at this mine, funny as, but unfortunately they have a no phones/ignition sources underground at that mine due to the mine having gas intersections on occasion there (methane/ but it is pretty rare and they would have to be around someone boring holes to be in that situation). Take any ignition source underground there and you get a window seat home. Bad luck fellas!!! To the idiot a few comments down saying they could cause a cave in doing this you have no idea what your talking about!

[dandeviate]

Mining is the third deadliest job in WA behind agriculture and construction, mmm As of July 2011, the latest fatality that has occurred in the Western Australian mining industry was on 16 August 2011 at Rio Tinto's Brockman 2 mine facility. All of the last four fatalities have occurred in the iron ore sector of the industry...so these young lads work underground....it's as safe as working indoors when done right....some mines have optic fibre, remote machinery..but still can't remotely repair

[munozjewel]

No reason to be fired... a little break from that work....with a kick of fun!!! Whats the big deal???
Good luck guys...

[strangastrange]

To be fair, they weren't wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE). Yes, pants and a shirt are required PPE in an industry that's so dangerous. They removed their shirts so that the company logo wouldn't show, but why would they put something on the internet that the company wouldn't approve of?

[mermaid]

Where did you get America from?? it was done underground in Australia in a gold mining area (other minerals mined there too but alot of gold)

[Lotima]

ну и зачем таких классных шахтёров уволили??? непонятно...оказывается и в Австралии начальство, - клинические идиоты...

[johnlanctot]

This was a group of people working under the Xstrata mining flag purchased by Glencore PLC. I worked for both of these companies, and since I have retired. I certainly do not condone this activity, but I have always wondered why they were fired? Mining is a serious business, and lives depend on your or your coworkers' actions. This was the end of a shift, and no work was in progress. The removal of safety equipment was a mistake, and that is how it should have been handled. I think it was more a message sent to miners world wide, we were called in and told in no uncertain terms. Any activity like this and you to will be terminated. What a waste of skills, reeducation would have had a better outcome. Just my opinion..

[nick]

Apparently the people here think that they should of kept their jobs. If these "professional" people were allowed to do this when they were supposed to be working, what's wrong when surgeons do the Harlem Shake during an operation? huh? There is a time and place for everything. Wasting company time is obviously not the time for a shake.

[EvanAPW]

They deserved to get fired, the cookie cutter kweers. This fad was absolutely gay.

[ohyesimlionel]

I have worked in the Mine Site before, I can't deny the fact that living in the mine site for a whilst without anyone you loved is devastating, but they have to remember that their safety has to be considered.