Covance

I am a current employee working within the Animal Operations Department at Covance Inc in Madison, WI. I work directly with research animals as a part of preclinical toxicology studies. There are multiple concerns I have with the working conditions me, and many others, are experiencing on a day-to-day basis. Most notably, our time at work is largely (>95%)spent on our feet, lifting things and performing many and various procedures with little rest. We are occasionally scheduled a half hour for lunch (within anywhere from a 10 to 14 hour day) however there are always very important laboratory and office tasks that add hours every day. In order to stay closer to the 10 hour work day, rather than the 14-hour, we usually sacrifice our lunch to continue working so that we may make it home at a somewhat reasonable time. In short, the work-life balance covance creates is, to me, disturbing. The implications of our constant state of near-exhaustion and fast-as-possible pace we are kept at, go beyond the humans working with the research animals; the well being of the animals' themselves is also greatly compromised. Because we are nearly always rushed and are so tired (and usually dehydrated and hungry), I am concerned the animals may not be receiving the kind of detailed attention and care they deserve. This is but a brief overview of the central issues I and many others are facing on a day-to-day basis. I hope this review may spur some kind of action or investigation to mitigate this issue for the employees' and the animals' physical and mental well being.