A day in the life: Sarah Lonergan

1.    How early do you rise?
Usually, I am an early riser with my alarm going off around 5.20am (to allow for a 20 minute snooze) if working on site that day. On office days I tend to get a lie in until at least 7am.

2.    What gets you out of bed in the morning?   

COFFEE!! I drink a lot of coffee. But I also get out of bed because I enjoy what I do. Every day is different so I know I will learn something new every day.

3.     Where do you work?

I work for a small consultancy firm called Airtech ECS, based in the midlands but travel throughout the UK.

4.    What do you do?

I am an occupational hygiene consultant working in a variety of industries from fabrication shops, to office blocks, to big manufacturing plants. I am new enough to the role of occupational hygiene, graduating from the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2011.

I started my career as an occupational health adviser. This is where I found my passion for occupational hygiene. As an occupational hygiene consultant, companies contact us for specialist advice on physical hazards present in their workplace, whether it is hazardous substances, noise, LEV etc. I concentrate on the health of the worker and assess the potential the workplace has at contributing to ill health.  

5.    What does a typical day entail for you?

It is hard to say really. No one day is the same. As a consultant, I am on different sites every day. I usually tend to visit 2-3 sites a week. Site work usually consists of my carrying out some form of monitoring and usually kitting up the employees with either a sampling pump or a personal dose badge. I may also be carrying out a thorough examination of the local exhaust ventilation systems that are on site.

I carry out the above in a large variety of industries including; foundry’s, potteries, bakeries, manufacturing – automotive/medical devices, so as you can image, hazards in each setting varies quite a lot.

6.  Is there routine in your day?

No one day is the same for me. As a consultant, you are asked to monitor in a variety of industries and carry out an array of assessments. But my days do involve rising early, mainly to try and beat the traffic as I could be working in any part of the UK. Some days are quite long, others not so much, it depends on what a task involves and where the site is located.

7.    Do you work on your own or with other people?

I work for a small consultancy company and am based in Nottingham. I am the only consultant based at this office, so technically I work on my own but I enjoy attending sites and meeting new people. I do have sites which I attend on a regular basis and I would like to think I have become part of their team.

8.     What time do you normally get home?

Depending on what time of the day I set off, anywhere between 3 & 7.

9.     What helps you relax after work?

I try my best to participate in some form of exercise in the evenings, particularly running. I also play Gaelic Football for my local team, St Barnabas so I train once or twice a week. It is a good way to detach from work.

10. Describe a memorable moment from work.  

I have not been working long as an occupational hygienist but I can honestly say that I enjoy my job. Employees health is key, and I get the opportunity to attend sites to ensure everything is as it should be and the health of the employees is being protected. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

I have been to several sites where work conditions are not up to the standard that I, or anyone, would expect. Fabrications shops, for one, really opened my eyes to the terrible conditions one can be exposed to, if not adequately controlled. Something as simple as adequate extraction can significantly reduce personal exposure to hazardous substances (i.e. carcinogenic substances) and increase the health and well being of everyone present.

11. What are you most proud of?

I am proud of the work I do for a living. I am very passionate about my role as an occupational hygienist and I believe the workplace needs to be educated on all the hidden risks that may be present as many people are not aware of the potential exposures.