For this month’s Meet The Team we catch up with Tamara Blackler who joined Kersia UK as a Hygiene Technologist six months ago. As the role is entirely new to Tamara she is looking forward to the challenge. She can’t wait to shadow other departments here at Kersia UK to learn more about the company and further develop her skills and knowledge.
What was your career path to your role?
I previously worked in the enrolment services department of a clinical research organisation before joining Kersia UK. I coordinated clinical studies and administrative aspects with colleagues from all areas. In my prior administrative position, I was in charge of monitoring all financial claims that the section received and acting as the initial point of contact for any questions regarding finances.
What responsibilities does your Hygiene Technologist role include?
In my role, I have the responsibility of writing the cleaning instruction cards for various factories within the food sector which is so interesting. I am responsible for ensuring that we have all of the required details needed for a particular piece of machinery at numerous locations, so that we can accurately describe the cleaning procedures requires at site.
In addition, I help train our customers in the use of our Hygiene Management System, Gateway.
So far what’s your favourite part of the job?
In my previous roles, I have worked in just one location. My role with Kersia gives me the opportunity to visit different locations and interact with new people which is one of my favourite aspects of the job.
What does a ‘typical’ day look like?
I have a scheduled diary for planned visits, and I will get prepared for these the previous day, ensuring that I have all the necessary equipment.
I team up with the local Technical Consultant for the area. We will then usually meet the site Hygiene Manager or Supervisor and talk through their needs and structure for their hygiene system. Following a detailed conversation, we will tour the production facilities, taking notes and photographs of the machinery. All this information is collated and used to ensure the cleaning cards are as detailed as possible.
Once everything has been uploaded to our Gateway electronic hygiene management system, I will send it to the Technical Consultant and the site contact to review.
When we are not physically visiting our customers sites, we are constantly updating / reviewing and helping colleagues with their work from other parts of the UK & Ireland.
What would you dream job be?
My dream job would be working at a Wildlife Park. It would be wonderful to work with animals all day - even if most of the time I would be using my Hygiene skills cleaning up after them!
