Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
Set up, operate, or tend heating equipment, such as heat-treating furnaces, flame-hardening machines, induction machines, soaking pits, or vacuum equipment to temper, harden, anneal, or heat treat metal or plastic objects.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Maintenance
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
- Chemistry
- Mechanical
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Read production schedules and work orders to determine processing sequences, furnace temperatures, and heat cycle requirements for objects to be heat-treated.
- Record times that parts are removed from furnaces to document that objects have attained specified temperatures for specified times.
- Set up and operate or tend machines, such as furnaces, baths, flame-hardening machines, and electronic induction machines, that harden, anneal, and heat-treat metal.
- Remove parts from furnaces after specified times, and air dry or cool parts in water, oil brine, or other baths.
- Instruct new workers in machine operation.
- Adjust controls to maintain temperatures and heating times, using thermal instruments and charts, dials and gauges of furnaces, and color of stock in furnaces to make setting determinations.
- Move controls to light gas burners and to adjust gas and water flow and flame temperature.
- Start conveyors and open furnace doors to load stock, or signal crane operators to uncover soaking pits and lower ingots into them.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (69.9% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (47.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (36.5%)
- 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 Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic 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 | Low | Lower on contact with others than 75% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 71% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 93% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 94% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 53% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 58% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 61% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: low
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: 12.86%
- Contact with others about half the time: 22.4%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.65%
- Constant contact with others: 49.09%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 62.09%
- Fairly important: 24.17%
- Important: 7.66%
- Very important: 0.85%
- Extremely important: 5.22%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 35.79%
- Very important: 27.65%
- Extremely important: 36.55%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 40.46%
- Limited freedom: 1.38%
- Some freedom: 46.4%
- A lot of freedom: 11.76%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 39.92%
- Every day: 59.84%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 4.86%
- Once a year or more but not every month: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a month or more but not every week: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.88%
- Every day: 0%
n = 23, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 27.45%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 12.44%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.85%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 12.92%
- Every day: 23.34%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 11.66%
- Fairly serious: 36.95%
- Serious: 22.88%
- Very serious: 19.98%
- Extremely serious: 8.53%
n = 24, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 51-4191.00 · SOC 51-4191 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8