Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend machines to wash or clean products, such as barrels or kegs, glass items, tin plate, food, pulp, coal, plastic, or rubber, to remove impurities.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Operations Monitoring
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- English Language
- Public Safety and Security
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- Chemistry
- Mechanical
- Administration and Management
What the work involves
- 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.
- Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
- 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.
- Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
- Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
- Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
- Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (59.8% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (53.4%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (29.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and Tenders is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 89% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 99% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 63% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 94% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 69% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 72% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 61% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 53% of occupations compared | 31% of surveyed respondents chose “Very serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 8.96%
- Occasional contact with others: 15.04%
- Contact with others about half the time: 23.46%
- Contact with others most of the time: 3.54%
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 92.32%
- Fairly important: 2%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 5.68%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 33.96%
- Very important: 20.73%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 20.39%
- Very little freedom: 12.73%
- Limited freedom: 18.46%
- Some freedom: 17.89%
- A lot of freedom: 30.53%
n = 17, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 7.79%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0.89%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.21%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 17, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 30.2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 27%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.72%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2.56%
- Every day: 17.52%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 24.52%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 20.07%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.28%
- Every day: 2.99%
n = 16, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 9.98%
- Fairly serious: 28.78%
- Serious: 20.39%
- Very serious: 31.09%
- Extremely serious: 9.76%
n = 17, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 51-9192.00 · SOC 51-9192 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8