Job Responsibilities
As a line leader, I worked for everyone in the department. I
would take someone's place if they needed a restroom break to
keep the product lines running. I would also be the go between
for the associates and management, pertaining to issues of
safety and ethical conduct. This did not take a lot of time.
My major responsibility was to perform end of line checks on all
the product lines every two hours, checking a specified number
of bottles or blisters to verify each product had a control
number and expiration date that corresponded to the paperwork or
batch record. We often had 6 or more lines running on each shift.
I also spent much time outside my line checks going over all the
paperwork associated with the process of running each batch of a
product to ensure each entry was correct and legible, ant to see
if all CGMP's were being followed.
I often did an end of shift count and calculated the run time
and down time for each lines every day.
If a line finished the product run, I would also tear down any
equipment that needed to be switched out or cleaned. After the
line was cleaned, I would inspect to see that all product
labeling had been removed from the line and sign off the batch
record. I would then help in the set up of the next product run.
Since this happened on a daily basis, I was busy all the time.
These were my main responsibilities and I had 8 hours to get
everything done.
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Job Requirements
There was yearly training in Current Good Manufacturing
Procedures. There was also Statistical Process Training to help
with charting the fill weights of oral suspension products.
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Uppers
I liked my job because it was something that kept me on my feet and busy. I had
been a packager previously and had to prerform the same type of operation every
day
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Downers
An associate could follow any path to higher education with
tuition assistance from GSK, but the particular department I
worked in did not promote you based on your education for a
great many years.
I once heard a Supervisor say that the job of packager was a "no
brainer". This was an overheard comment that I redressed with
him to tell him of the negative impact such talk would create.
If you keep telling associates they are not performing to
expectations, instead of encouraging or praising their specific
accomplishments, all that will be created is a negative
environment and low morale. This was consistently borne out in
our department until there was a management change.
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Lifestyle
The companty had several events per year planned outside working hours. This was
a very nice feature that could involve your whole family.
Our working environment consisted of wearing uniforms and steel toed shoes. We
also wore safety glasses. The only drawback to this is the temperature and
humidity controlled environments. The clothing requirements can sometimes cause
you to be warm.
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Compensation
My base salary was $16.91 per hour, with three weeks paid
vacation per year. We received a quarterly impact bonus if we
had high product yields and first time right on paperwork and
product efficacy reviews.
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Advice to Jobseekers
I think an applicant seeking a job in this industry needs to be
educated and try to get into management or qualified to work in
a laboratory environment.
It would not take a college education to do a packaging
operation, but an applicant can show initiative by being a quick
learner and willing to do the best job they are capable of doing
in whatever field of endeavor they pursue.
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