Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
Identify, remove, pack, transport, or dispose of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead-based paint, waste oil, fuel, transmission fluid, radioactive materials, or contaminated soil. Specialized training and certification in hazardous materials handling or a confined entry permit are generally required. May operate earth-moving equipment or trucks.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Transportation
- Chemistry
- Law and Government
What the work involves
- Comply with prescribed safety procedures or federal laws regulating waste disposal methods.
- Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment or waste disposed.
- Operate machines or equipment to remove, package, store, or transport loads of waste materials.
- Load or unload materials into containers or onto trucks, using hoists or forklifts.
- Clean contaminated equipment or areas for reuse, using detergents or solvents, sandblasters, filter pumps, or steam cleaners.
- Remove asbestos or lead from surfaces, using hand or power tools such as scrapers, vacuums, or high-pressure sprayers.
- Clean mold-contaminated sites by removing damaged porous materials or thoroughly cleaning all contaminated nonporous materials.
- Sort specialized hazardous waste at landfills or disposal centers, following proper disposal procedures.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Less than a High School Diploma (45.8% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (41.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (33.2%)
- 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 Hazardous Materials Removal Workers 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 | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 52% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 57% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 68% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 57% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 62% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 66% of occupations compared | — |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 56% of occupations compared | 30% of surveyed respondents chose “Not serious at all” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very 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: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Occasional contact with others: 5.47%
- Contact with others about half the time: 3.76%
- Contact with others most of the time: 35.36%
- Constant contact with others: 55.41%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 17.94%
- Fairly important: 13.94%
- Important: 3.76%
- Very important: 17.77%
- Extremely important: 46.59%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very important: 24.87%
- Extremely important: 60.94%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Very little freedom: 13.94%
- Limited freedom: 9.22%
- Some freedom: 19.72%
- A lot of freedom: 57.12%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.62%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 3.76%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.47%
- Every day: 51.15%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 14.09%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.81%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 38.16%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20.93%
- Every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 10.34%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.57%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.76%
- Every day: 10.34%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 30.47%
- Fairly serious: 10.34%
- Serious: 24.78%
- Very serious: 10.93%
- Extremely serious: 23.47%
n = 14, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 47-4041.00 · SOC 47-4041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8