There are many issues with Bachem, such as poor management, lack of planning, poor training, reliance on tribal knowledge, extremely poor understanding of work/life balance, extreme over-expectations of new trainees, and minimal cross-department support. Safety, however, has quickly risen to be a top issue.
During a recent meeting, personnel complained to the Safety Department regarding noxious smells and adverse side effects two days after a spill had affected the majority of the facility. The Safety Department told the employees to read the SDS on the chemicals. Instead of asking for the details of the side effects, or the environment the employees were working in, or providing possible preventative measures the employees could take, the Safety Department said that they had an outside contractor test the facility and that the chemical limits were safe. Upon repeated questions and doubts from said personnel, the Safety Department referred the employees to their supervisors, and told the concerned employees that their supervisors would field questions from their staff.
During the same meeting, the topic of fire drill training came up. A recent evacuation had left most employees confused and frustrated, as most people didn't know the details of evacuation procedure, and they were not properly informed that an evacuation was even occurring during a recent incident. The personnel requested for annual fire and evacuation drills. The Safety Department first responded by chastising the employees for not remembering the Emergency Evacuation SOPs that are digitally stored in the system. The Safety Department told the employees that safety is the employee's responsibility, so it is the responsibility of the employees to read and know the SOPs. The concerned personnel noted that they would *not* be reading a digital SOP during an emergency, so they would like annual training. The Safety Department responded by stating that they have wanted to do training, but the Fire Department had not been able to send someone out on a regular basis, but that they would try to schedule them in the future.
These incidents, in my opinion, give a fair picture of the Safety Department's attitude towards their job and the employees. They seem to believe that they are not responsible for enforcing safety protocols, and are only responsible for developing a system. Adopting safety systems and training on those safety systems are either not their responsibility, or not a high priority.
