Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Adjust, clean, and lubricate mechanical parts of machines, using hand tools and grease guns.
• Operate or tend machines to wash and remove impurities from items such as barrels or kegs, glass products, tin plate surfaces, dried fruit, pulp, animal stock, coal, manufactured articles, plastic, or rubber.
• Drain, clean, and refill machines or tanks at designated intervals, using cleaning solutions or water.
• Measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes.
• Draw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity.
• Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
• Load machines with objects to be processed and unload them after cleaning, placing them on conveyors or racks.
• Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
• Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
• Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
• Measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes.
• Load machines with objects to be processed and unload them after cleaning, placing them on conveyors or racks.
• Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
• Draw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity.
• Adjust, clean, and lubricate mechanical parts of machines, using hand tools and grease guns.
• Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.

Skills

• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.

Abilities

• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.
• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.

Knowledge

• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

39790/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

19.13/hr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

520

Yearly Projected Openings

60

Personality

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

• Persistence
• Achievement/Effort
• Initiative
• Stress Tolerance
• Attention to Detail
• Dependability

Tools

• Adjustable wrenches
• Calibrating tanks
• Cleaning scrapers
• Conveyor system
• Ear plugs
• Floor scrubbers
• Forklifts
• Grease guns
• Hammers
• Hand sprayers
• Laboratory stirring rods
• Mixers or agitators
• Pallet trucks
• Personal computers
• Pipe and tube cleaning machine
• Power buffers
• Pressure or steam cleaners
• Protective gloves
• Respirators
• Safety glasses
• Scissor lift or lift table
• Screwdrivers
• Temperature regulators
• Vacuum hose
• Vacuum truck
• Water pumps
• Wet mops

Technology

• Spreadsheet software
• Word processing software