Outrage after Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm forces worker to dress up as a human hand gel dispenser
- Images shared online show Saudi Aramco worker dressed as hand gel dispenser
- Act criticised with social media users saying it is ‘humiliating’ and ‘disgusting’
- Firm said practice ‘immediately’ stopped and measures taken to prevent repeat
Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm has sparked outrage on social media after images emerged of an employee dressed as a human hand gel dispenser.
Photographs taken inside a Saudi Aramco office show a worker in a protective mask approaching staff wearing a sandwich board with a dispenser of hand sanitiser attached to the front.
People across the globe have been urged to take greater hygiene precautions amid the growing coronavirus crisis, which has claimed 4,400 lives with 121,000 cases reported worldwide.
Saudi Aramco confirmed it had immediately ended the practice and ‘taken strict measures to prevent it from happening again’ after the images sparked fury online.
Photographs taken inside a Saudi Aramco office show a worker in a protective mask approaching staff with a dispenser of hand sanitiser attached to the front of a sandwich board
In a statement, the firm said: ‘With regard to the images circulated on social media of a colleague wearing a sanitiser bottle inside one of our facilities.
‘Aramco would like to express its strong dissatisfaction towards the behaviour that intended to emphasise the importance of hygiene.
‘The company immediately stopped this act and took drastic measures to prevent it from happening again.’
Saudi Aramco’s statement came after the images were widely criticised online, with social media users condemning the practice as ‘disgusting’ and ‘humiliating’ for the employee.
Others claimed it was ‘racist’, with another Twitter user declaring the worker ‘must be compensated for this humiliating act’.
The worker is also wearing a pair of disposable gloves in the images, as people across the globe take greater precautions amid the growing coronavirus crisis
The firm added the act took place ‘without the approval of the company.’
Saudi Arabi, which has reported around 20 coronavirus cases, has expressed alarm over the rapid spread of the virus across the Gulf.
All travel in and out of the Al Qatif province was suspended on Sunday to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
On Monday, concerns over the virus led Saudi Arabia to cut off air and sea travel with Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, South Korea, Syria and the United Arab Emirates. The kingdom had already shut its land borders.
‘Out of concern to protect the health of citizens and residents and ensure their safety, the kingdom’s government decided to temporarily suspend the travel,’ an Interior Ministry official said.
Saudi Arabia had also shut down access to some of the holiest sites in Islam over concerns about COVID-19.