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Clean Harbors

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Clean Harbors

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Clean Harbors Reviews

Updated May 30, 2023

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Found 1,624 of over 2K reviews
3.3
54% Recommend to a Friend
Clean Harbors Chairman, President, and CEO Alan S. McKim
66% Approve of CEO

Found 1,617 of over 2K reviews

3.3
54%
Recommend to a Friend
66%
Approve of CEO
Clean Harbors Chairman, President, and CEO Alan S. McKim
Alan S. McKim
828 Ratings

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Top Review Highlights by Sentiment

Pros
  • "the pay was good but nothing else was worth the problems(in 96 reviews)
  • "great people and they have supervisor that care about there employers(in 87 reviews)
  • "Good benefits Unlimited overtime Safety is a priority(in 80 reviews)
  • "Good training and integration programs of their business model and paper flow for companies they have purchased.(in 39 reviews)
  • "Great management and safety is ALWAY first!(in 24 reviews)
Cons
Pros & Cons are excerpts from user reviews. They are not authored by Glassdoor.

Ratings by Demographics

This rating reflects the overall rating of Clean Harbors and is not affected by filters.

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  1. 5.0
    Former Employee, less than 1 year

    You'll drive a forklift

    May 24, 2023 - In site Hazardous Waste Technician  in Decatur, AL
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Great benefits. Good communication. Problems solved almost immediately every time

    Cons

    Never knew what to expect insite at a plant

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  2. 3.0
    Current Employee, more than 5 years

    Company Lacks Salary Employee Progression

    Apr 18, 2023 - CleanPack Specialist 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Great local people, family culture, most part managers don’t micromanage, lots of OT and travel if wanted.

    Cons

    Company shows no structure for yearly increases. New people get hired on higher than tenured employees. Lack of resources makes your job more difficult than it needs. Headcount needs to grow for the amount of work being asked. Corporate initiatives lack forethought for different regions of the country. Upper management either ignore or don’t realize the time it takes to do the tasks required.

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    1 person found this review helpful
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  4. 3.0
    Former Employee

    Two Companies

    Jan 18, 2023 - Environmental Health and Safety Manager 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Benefits Stability Localized Management Training/ Job Related Licenses

    Cons

    Clean Harbors is split into two separate companies, there is the company that actually does the work and creates revenue. Then there is the company that provides oversite and scrutinizes the work of the first company. There are twice as many people employed in positions that will never create any revenue and will not interact with anyone in the labor force outside of a regional or branch manager. The second group drives the decision making and future planning for the business' model. This drives a disconnect with company policy verses the real world application and working environment. With the growing role of Electronic Logs, and its relation to Hours of Service; as well as the business opportunities and working environment in the Covid and Post-Covid world this has become a growing internal issue. Operations Mangers and Onsite Sales Professionals are responsible for all real world implementation of Health and Safety, Transportation Compliance and Business Development. If you are looking to work directly with field personnel in a role related to Health and Safety, Emergency Management, Trans Compliance or another auxiliary group apply for a position specifically mentioning OPERATIONS. If you are looking for an office position and or remote position apply for a position described in a more traditional manner to those titles. The company can also be very reluctant to accept internal applicants from other business lines into divergent lines, instead recruiting from external companies or just out right purchasing the company. They are however very supportive of direct vertical promotions with in the same line of buisness.

    3 people found this review helpful
  5. 3.0
    Current Employee, more than 5 years

    Safety must be actively managed

    May 28, 2023 - Clean Pack Chemist in Compton, CA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    OT and steady work schedule.

    Cons

    Lack of Annual pay raises and employee recognition.

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  6. 3.0
    Former Employee

    Not horrible but not great

    May 30, 2023 - Machine Operator in Ashland, KY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Good money,fairly easy work depending on experience

    Cons

    Not home alot or home too much.

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  7. 3.0
    Current Employee

    A lot of overtime

    May 29, 2023 - Chemist in Kent, WA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Enjoyed working with the other field technicians/drivers

    Cons

    No room for growth. Low pay.

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  8. 2.0
    Former Employee

    Not a great company as they claim

    May 4, 2023 - Anonymous Employee in Norwell, MA
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    When I started they were great and fair.

    Cons

    The higher you get within the company the quicker you figure out it’s a man’s world. Multiple colleges were terminated after calling the “anonymous” hotline voicing complaints through the years, clearly it’s not anonymous. I was never given a job title for the job I was doing.

    Continue reading
    2 people found this review helpful
  9. 3.0
    Former Employee, less than 1 year

    Great opportunities but too many politics and management is terrible

    Feb 10, 2023 - Environmental Technician in Deer Park, NY
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Plenty of opportunities to work in different parts of the country and even the world. Each different assignment can be hit or miss. You could go from manual labor in a plant somewhere in hot and humid Louisiana to cold Utah cleaning barges out of train carts. Expect the unexpected! Benefits are great. Starting pay is ok! Weekly pay plus perdiem $35 per day. Definitely gonna travel around that's a plus. Mostly by plane If it's in another state or drive with the crew you'll be with in vans or rental car.

    Cons

    Management racist, having to work with egomaniacal hot heads that are full of themselves because of a title and a $2 pay difference, no one wants to teach you anything so basically you'd have to get your leg cut off in the field to learn something, having to share rooms with other grown men, communication can be terrible to between management and workers , not enough work. Sometimes you'll work a two or three week assignment then come back home having to wait weeks or even almost a month to be sent back out.

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    3 people found this review helpful
  10. 3.0
    Current Employee

    Good start for new chemists

    May 23, 2023 - Clean Pack Chemist 
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    Solid experience to obtain. Good training program to get people up to date with compliance and regulations

    Cons

    Poor pay and lack of recognition or value to people with degrees

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  11. 2.0
    Former Employee, more than 1 year

    Good place to start

    May 9, 2023 - Environmental Technician in East Chicago, IN
    Recommend
    CEO Approval
    Business Outlook

    Pros

    A place to go to work.

    Cons

    They will send you to another shop to help out on your own vehicle anywhere under 75miles they don’t help.

    Continue reading
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Viewing 1 - 10 of 1,617 Reviews
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Clean Harbors Reviews FAQs

Clean Harbors has an overall rating of 3.3 out of 5, based on over 1,692 reviews left anonymously by employees. 54% of employees would recommend working at Clean Harbors to a friend and 58% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has improved by 2% over the last 12 months.

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Clean Harbors employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.1 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Clean Harbors. This rating has improved by 1% over the last 12 months.

54% of Clean Harbors employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated Clean Harbors 2.9 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.1 for culture and values and 3.3 for career opportunities.

According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at Clean Harbors to be career development, coworkers, benefits and the cons to be senior leadership, management, compensation.

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Clean Harbors Careers

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40 Years of Sustainability in Action When you are part of the Clean Harbors family, you will perform work that will truly make a...More

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Clean Harbors

1116 days ago

Coronavirus Support Hotline: 844-DECON-19 In addition to our 24/7 Emergency Response hotline (1-800-OIL-TANK) we now have a dedicated hotline for Coronavirus (COVID-19) decontamination and disposal services. Feel free to give us a call anytime at 844-DECON-19 or email us deconservices@cleanharbors.com.
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Clean Harbors

1223 days ago

Watch Undercover Boss tonight at 9pm ET on CBS as out CEO, Alan McKim goes undercover!
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Glassdoor has 1,692 Clean Harbors reviews submitted anonymously by Clean Harbors employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Clean Harbors is right for you.