HEL Reviews

Dodgy and outdated health and safety policies. Chemists are expected to use carcinogenic chemicals in a very poorly ventilated laboratory/cupboard. Other staff cutting carcinogenic fibreboard in shared areas frequently with no idea of its potential dangers. Management show little respect to staff and little respect to staff concerns. Multiple managers are frequently looking to criticise rather than encourage, even if work is done to a high standard they will likely criticise some aspect of behaviour. They fail to notice any good work performed unless it is reported directly to them. Despite working equal or longer hours (by arriving to work early and starting immediately) than my two managers I was criticised for leaving work at 5pm. They expected me to dedicate myself to the job despite underpaying and underrespecting me. I had to fight hard after two years of good work to bring my pay up to a slightly more reasonable standard. A third manager decided I was stupid early on because of a slight discrepancy of 'opinion' regarding a technical matter. Continued to bring it up for 2+ years (even though all I had done was state an empirical observation from an experiment I had performed). Overall poor, arrogant management and poor respect for staff leads to it being a short-lived job for the majority of the more competent, self-respecting members of staff. When I was there everyone had either been there more than 20 years, or less than 3. High staff turnover and management changes mean that the company has changed significantly since my departure so not necessarily all still true.

The work is really very dull and little training is provided