Southern suburbs teen says he was bullied, injured in prank on the job with plumbing company

SafeWork is now investigating after a southern suburbs teen claimed he was bullied off the job during work experience.

An opportunity to do work experience in his dream job quickly became a nightmare for a southern suburbs high school student who claims he was the victim of bullying.

Cooper Smith, who is currently completing his cert II in plumbing, says he leapt at the chance to do a placement at a southern suburbs plumbing business.

But now his experience is being investigated by SafeWork SA.

Despite having a good first day, the 16-year-old says things took a turn for the worse on the second day.

“(The work experience boss) barked orders at me all day that were unreasonable orders because I didn’t know what any of the tools were called or what they were used for,” Cooper claims.

“He was saying, with his head down and one hand out, give me this, give me that, but I had no idea what tools he was asking me to give him.”

Cooper claims he was also “berated” for being on his phone, despite explaining to his work experience boss that he was using it to record videos (to learn from) and take notes.

As a result, Cooper claims he felt isolated and unable to ask for help out of fear of being ridiculed.

“I started off asking lots of questions, especially on my first day (with another employee) but because of the way (the boss) spoke to me and (was) getting right into my face, it made me too intimidated to ask again,” Cooper claims.

Cooper claims he was told off for using his phone. Picture: Thinkstock

On day three Cooper claims he was instructed to pick up copper shavings.

“I was told that copper is very expensive and then got told by (the boss) and (apprentice) that I had to pick up every single shard on the ground,” he claims.

“I was on my hands and knees picking all the copper shards up with my bare hands, and a sharp piece of copper sliced the top of my finger, which bled quite a lot.

“The boss told me to wipe it on my shirt and put some gaffer tape on it, that’s what it’s like in this industry and you better get used to it.

“Then they laughed and said you really didn’t have to pick all that up, we were just f**king with you. I felt extremely hurt and totally belittled by two grown men who thought it was a hilarious prank.”

That same day Cooper claims he was told off for taking a lunch break and was made to feel uncomfortable by his co-workers and boss, who he claims made inappropriate sexual comments about young girls.

“I work at (a fast food restaurant) and the other men were talking about how hot the 16-year-old girls at (my) store were,” Cooper claims.

“I was embarrassed and felt that the conversation was totally perverted listening to grown men refer to kids my age as sexual objects.”

Cooper then texted his mum to pick him up and made the decision not to continue the rest of his placement.

She was horrified to learn what her son claimed to have been through and immediately contacted his school and filed a report with SafeWork SA.

Cooper, 16, pictured with his mum, claims he was bullied by his work experience boss. Picture: Dean Martin

“It’s devastating, he’s gone there expecting to have a nice time with this person who was so happy to have him over the phone and it’s been the complete opposite,” she says.

To prevent other kids going through the same experience, she suggested that schools provide a list of approved trainers.

“No one knows what these people are like when our children are being sent out to them,” she says.

A spokeswoman for the school confirmed that the company had been reported to the relevant authorities and that support had been offered to Cooper’s family.

“Unfortunately, during a recent placement one of our students was not treated appropriately,” she says. “In rare circumstances a negative experience is swiftly responded to by our experienced staff and support provided to our students.”

The Advertiser attempted to contact the pumbing business.

SafeWork SA said anyone with concerns about workplace safety, including inappropriate behaviour, can contact SafeWork SA on 1300 365 255 or via the website safework.sa.gov.au

*Names have been changed to protect privacy as investigations continue