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A Senior Laboratory Technician, meet Salmah, who joined Pennington Choices’ Laboratory team back in 2019. We sat down with Salmah to find out what she gets up to in a day working at Pennington Choices. We asked Salmah a series of questions about her typical workday and what she enjoys most about her role. Here’s what she said:
Q: First question, tell us who you are and what you do.
A: My name is Salmah, I’m a Senior Laboratory Technician working at Pennington Choices in the Warrington laboratory. We work in the laboratory to analyse samples which may contain asbestos fibresQ: On a day-to-day basis, what would you usually get up to?
A: We normally work on a day-to-day basis analysing samples. First of all, coming to the laboratory, checking any incoming samples that have been sent or dropped off by surveyors. We check them in our Cheshire-based laboratory, starting with the due-date, along with any samples which we need to prioritise. We are looking for any asbestos fibres which may be present in the bulk samples. We receive different types of materials, such as floor tiles, mastics, and texture coatings, so it is different materials from different locations. If there are any issues, we will contact the surveyors or whoever we need to talk to. Each member of staff will normally work with anywhere between 36-45 samples per day.Q:Why did you decide to pursue your role as a Laboratory Technician?
A: It’s now coming up to five years [since I started at] Pennington Choices, on 17th June 2019. At the start, I was looking for work in a laboratory with asbestos as it came to my attention that working with asbestos is important for people's lives and their health and safety.From my first day at Pennington Choices, when I came to the interview, I really liked the friendly environment. Everyone was smiling and happy, and this is what made me want to work here in the lab and now I have completed five years here.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: The people! On the first day I came for my interview, I was living in Liverpool, and it was my first time driving on a motorway. I said to my husband “It’s so far, I don’t think I can do it if they accept me because it’s quite hard for me to do the drive every day.”
I told him that I wanted to go to the interview but if I got the offer, I wouldn’t be able to accept it. When I arrived at the head office, I was greeted by a member of the team who was incredibly friendly and gave a great first impression of the company. I had the interview with the laboratory team, and I met some of the staff who were walking around smiling; I loved the environment and the people at Pennington Choices.
When I finished the interview, I went back to my husband and said “Yeah, if they give me the offer [for the job] I’m going to accept it!” and he replied, “What, why?!”. I told him “It’s the people and the environment, it’s so nice.” I loved the people and loved their smiling and how they were coming across.
Q: Can you share a memorable moment or accomplishment you have had in your role at Pennington Choices?
A: Too many! Too many things and events have happened here! The most important thing is the support I got from Pennington Choices especially with my long-term health issues. They’ve supported me so well; they’ve been around me anytime [I have needed it].
Q: How does your role contribute to promoting safety and protecting the health of workers and the environment?
A: I feel like it is really important. When working in the lab, we make sure to do our best to give accurate results as this will affect other people's lives, their health, and their safety as well. It’s not only the people who are working in buildings but those who live there. So, I feel like it’s most important to get accurate results [from the samples] and the right results to ensure they don’t have any issues with the asbestos long term.
Can you walk us through a recent project you have been working on?
Usually, when we are analysing samples and we find asbestos fibres, the next day, another member of staff will pick a random sample from one of the projects that another member of staff has been working on to ensure accurate results are being sent to the client. As I mentioned, it is for the health and safety procedures, so we will pick a random number of samples to re-check them. For example, I will take some samples from another member of staff and reanalyse them to check if my results match theirs.
If any asbestos is found, we will report it in the system, and send it to the report writer. If the client wants to do a re-test of any samples (let’s say they want samples from a different material, or one sample was negative, and one was positive), they will send another sample from the area which was negative to re-test. The results will then be sent to the report writer, who will put together a report which is sent to a client.
Thank you to Salmah for sharing your story with us, we’re happy to have you as part of our team! If you’re looking for the next step in your career, you can view our career opportunities here. For more insight into what #LifeatPC is like, click here.