Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Speaking
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Food Production
- Administration and Management
- Mathematics
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
What the work involves
- Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed.
- Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.
- Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.
- Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.
- Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
- Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools.
- Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.
- Scrape, dislodge, or break excess frost, ice, or frozen product from equipment to prevent accumulation, using hands and hand tools.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (51.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (34%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (28.8%)
- 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 Cooling and Freezing 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 84% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 94% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 70% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 72% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 66% of occupations compared | — |
| Conflict situations | Very low | Lower on conflict situations than 85% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 84% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 54% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: very low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very 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: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 15.28%
- Contact with others about half the time: 15.28%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: 29.3%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 52.42%
- Fairly important: 16.44%
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 13.82%
- Extremely important: 1.74%
n = 19, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 15.28%
- Important: 9.11%
- Very important: 33.46%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0.8%
- Limited freedom: 32.66%
- Some freedom: 42.88%
- A lot of freedom: 23.66%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.75%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.22%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.69%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 40.22%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 25.33%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 2.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 0.47%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 31.58%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.02%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 17.77%
- Every day: 0.97%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 25.4%
- Fairly serious: 29.84%
- Serious: 0.47%
- Very serious: 17.3%
- Extremely serious: 26.98%
n = 20, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 51-9193.00 · SOC 51-9193 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8