‘I can spell Engineer so I must be one’ Part 3.

The project we were working on was classified ‘Secret’. Nothing unusual there, I was used to it. Most documents and software was ‘Confidential’ but one part, which muggins here, landed up with was ‘Secret’. Well, the rules are very clear on this point. It must be locked away at all times when not being worked on, in an approved security container, and the key must be handed into the security guard when leaving. Periodically, someone will come and check you have what you are supposed to have.

The Security Officer was, surprisingly, new and young. He obviously had budget problems because he spent a long time trying me to persuade me to share a cabinet two floors up. One visit convinced me that this was a quick road to serious trouble. I arrived during lunch break, no one in evidence, the cabinet was shut but unlocked and the key was on a desk. A quick check through the drawers and the document log showed months of neglect. Next year, a security audit showed 12 missing documents.

So, I dug my heels in and refused to start work until I had my cabinet. After much grumbling it eventually arrived. A full four-drawer filing cabinet with a nice shiny new padlock and key. One security log later and it then housed the grand total of:

Two floppy disks.
One 20 page document.

Later on, we used to keep the sweepstake money there and a bottle of rum for emergencies.

Towards the end of the project the company decided to have some repairs done to the roof of one of the building. This housed one of the clean rooms. Well, not exactly Class 10, more like ‘A less dirty working area than normal’ room.
Roofing contractors, for some reason, always like to work with tar and flame at some point in the job. Must be in their blood. These were no different and inevitably, the roof caught fire. My friend, Simon, was exiting the clean room at the time and being a wide awake contractor, immediately broke the glass with his elbow and pushed the button. Alarms went off and we all started streaming out.

It was at this point, that we were all treated to the sight of one of the cousins from
$VERYLARGEAMERICANDEFENCECOMPANY$ standing in front of 4 large incoming fire engines, who having got the call to ‘Fire in armaments factory’ had set off with everything they had.

‘Stop’ , said the cousin from across the waters. ‘They’re not security cleared’. I went to the pub.