Firstly, this is a long one but is worth the read.
I previously posted on here about how I was working in a company where many of us were suffering from contact dermititis due to the chemicals we worked with. Management consistently tried to ignore the issue.
I decided to leave without notice and didn't show up for a week. They spam called me so I eventually texted a manager that I resign due to the rashes I've been suffering with on my skin, and that I don't see the issue being resolved.
He's sent me an email and I've written one back and an contemplating sending it to him to put him in his place, but am wondering if its even worth it. What are your thoughts?
His email:
I refer to your text message sent to me this morning and I note your resignation on the 2nd October 2023. Any holidays accrued will be paid by the end of the month.
Also, you refer to issues within your text message with your skin. To my knowledge, you haven’t raised any concerns with anyone from the management team, making it impossible for this to be reviewed. I’m also unaware that this is an ‘ongoing issue’ with other team members. Your understanding appears to be misunderstood.
On a final note, you reported absence to Craig, Production Manager, on the 25th September 2023, an absence which you didn’t return from. You then didn’t make any attempt to get in touch with Craig or myself, despite repeated daily attempts to reach you by phone by both of us. Given that Craig has given you a great deal of support with personal issues over the past months, I’m very disappointed with your behaviour towards him and the Company over the past week.
This is the what I've written in response:
Brian,
I would argue that your 'unawareness' is perhaps just deliberate ignorance. It's been brought to management's attention multiple times that the people in your workplace are suffering from contact dermititis. For instance, you recently started encouraging us to use barrier cream and plastic sleeves whilst working (which was ineffective, by the way) as a response to my coworker, Billy, reporting that his entire arm had developed a rash overnight. You were also aware that my coworker, Artur, had been making a series of complaints and seeking medical attention for his rashes, shortly before being made redundant. Chris was moved outside in response to his more significant allergic reaction, which caused him to be hospitalised for the severe rashes he had developed on his face, and presumably the other parts of his body. Despite no longer working in the production area, the rashes were still present on his face throughout his time in the company.
Also, although you may not be aware of it, I recall having a conversation with Craig about how I'd been suffering with rashes some months ago – it was raised to management.
Based on that, and the conversations I've had with other staff who also suffer from these skin issues, I would argue that, yes – this is an ongoing issue.
Personally, I didn't see it necessary to take the matter of my own health issues caused from working there any further to management, as it was very clear to me that, based on what I'd seen with my colleagues, no cream or medication could prevent the contact dermatitis caused by the repeated exposure to the chemicals we worked with. There was also nothing I could possibly think of that could be changed within the workplace to prevent it. Therefore, to protect my health, I was forced to resign. Previously, I feared that, based on your apparent deliberate ignorance of the issue, I would be made redundant for drawing too much attention to it – which brings me to my next point.
I find it highly suspicious that you seemingly avoided giving contracts to those of us working in production, despite having worked there for many months past the probation period and being asked multiple times for them by my coworker Artur. I find it especially concerning considering that there were only a few of us working there; I can't imagine it would have been too difficult be on top of. Perhaps this just wasn't a priority to you. Or perhaps it just made it easier to make us redundant when you saw necessary. I'm unsure.
To address your “disappointment in my behaviour”, I'd like to inform you that over the past week I have been suffering from significant distress over my circumstance (whether or not I should continue risking my health), which is why I reported that I was sick, and have only recently felt able to discuss this with you. During my time within the company, I have been treated unfairly, picked on, and, despite being pressured to work as fast as I physically could in such a dangerous environment, sworn and shouted at several times for not completing work to the deadline. That said, it should come as no surprise that I felt reluctant to discuss my circumstance with you.
On the other hand, I'm very disappointed in the way you've conducted your response in regards to my concern for myself and the others who are suffering from the chemicals we've been exposed to. For your information, despite not being in your workplace for over a week, I'm still suffering from itchy, visibly sore rashes on multiple parts of my body, and so is my previous colleague Artur (who hasn't been present there for around a month), which makes me wonder – will there be any, more serious, effects that I may suffer from in the future?
I do not wish to discuss this further and waste any more of my time than I already have. It's clear to me that you have little concern for the health issues that are present in those who are working for you. If I were to make a guess, it would be that you understand that the contact dermatitis caused from working at the company, specifically in (although not limited to) the production area, is unavoidable until the workplace is significantly upgraded – something that the company doesn't currently have the financial capability of doing. I believe that this is why you deny, as shown in your email, that there is an issue. I hope that you are able to figure out a way to prevent this as soon as possible; I have suffered greatly during my time working for your company and only wish that future employees won't have to suffer too.