Hello Irina and thank you for your time. You work as a Lab Technician in our plant in Fieni, Romania. Please share with us a little bit of what your job means and describe a day at work. 

I joined Carmeuse one year and a half ago and I really like what I do. I am the kind of person that puts a lot of passion into work and this job constantly offers me the opportunity to learn, to discover new things and to develop my skills. 

We are two people working in the Laboratory in Fieni, in 8-hour shifts. We usually spend the mornings introducing in SAP the data collected in the lab during the night. In addition, we start the daily kiln tests. In Fieni, we have 2 kilns and for each of them we run 4 daily tests. One test usually lasts about 30 minutes.

There are many samples that we analyze in the lab; we run all kinds of tests – both for the kilns and also for the milled limestone. Each customer has clear specifications regarding the product that they buy from Carmeuse; this is why it is so important for us to respect these requests and to accompany them by specific lab tests (reactivity, CO2). 

What about safety? Do you feel safe working on a Carmeuse site? 

I feel 100% safe while working. Carmeuse puts a lot of emphasis on the safety measures. We have regular safety training sessions, specific safety protection equipment and each of my colleagues is aware that we are the ones who have to take care and respect the safety regulations. As proof, our plant in Fieni has recently celebrated 8 years without accidents. 

Congratulations! How is the atmosphere in a plant? What kind of relation do you develop with your colleagues? 

I have a very good relation with my colleagues and I think that I adapted very quickly in the new team, after I joined. After I was hired, I received a lot of support and guidance from my colleague in the lab, who has more experience in this job, but also from the head of the laboratory in Campulung, another plant in Romania. It was easy for me to learn what I have to do and the team was very warm and gave me a great welcome. 

We are just a few people working on the plant and, honestly, I consider this as being the only disadvantage of my current job – that I am mostly alone in the lab. I come from an environment where I was working with more people and this socializing aspect is the one I sometimes miss. Practically, I am alone on my shift and I only relate with other colleagues when I go to collect samples, other than that, the tests take all my time. The good thing is that I really love my job and that compensates for everything. 

Thank you, Irina! I wish you a happy 2021, with lots of accomplishments, both on the professional and the personal level.