Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

Overview

Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders has a national median salary of $58,040 per year, with +3.6% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.

Work Values

• Support
• Independence
• Relationships

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Observe safety precautions to prevent fires or explosions.
• Patrol work areas to detect leaks or equipment malfunctions or to monitor operating conditions.
• Monitor gauges, recording instruments, flowmeters, or products to ensure that specified conditions are maintained.
• Inspect equipment or units to detect leaks or malfunctions, shutting equipment down, if necessary.
• Record operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results.

Work Activities

• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment
• Getting Information
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Handling and Moving Objects
• Documenting/Recording Information
• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Performing General Physical Activities

Detailed Work Activities

• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished a bachelor's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Bachelor's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders:

Video Resources