Signs

There is a rather good canteen at work. It produces standard canteen fayre and distributes it using standard canteen processes (users collect a tray from the piles outside the canteen, assess what they would like to buy, put their tray on a rail, put a plate on their tray, and put the desired items onto a plate. They then pick up the tray/plate/food ensemble, walk to the tills and pay. Finally, they collect any necessary cutlery and condiments, take a seat and consume their purchases.)

Hitherto, it had not been felt necessary to provide diners with instructions for this part of the dining process. Waste separation and recycling are infinitely more complicated processes and handy idiots' guides have been provided in the vicinity of these facilities for some time, but the food purchasing system was assessed to be sufficiently simple to not warrant the attention of the perhaps slightly overly cautious people in the Health and Safety department.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I present you with the latest and greatest contribution to Health and Safety in the workplace.

Look closer...

I found this on Monday. Those are not cheap signs. They are heavy duty things with what I can only presume is a bit of custom printing on the front (I sincerely hope these are not stock items...) I am reluctant to comment on what this suggests for the assumed levels of intelligence of canteen users. I am quite, quite speechless.

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Post script 18/1/2008: In an apparent u-turn, the signs have been removed. No doubt scenes of food-spillage chaos will await me on Monday.