Maintenance Workers, Machinery
Lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Operation and Control
- Quality Control Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Design
- Education and Training
- Engineering and Technology
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Reassemble machines after the completion of repair or maintenance work.
- Start machines and observe mechanical operation to determine efficiency and to detect problems.
- Inspect or test damaged machine parts, and mark defective areas or advise supervisors of repair needs.
- Lubricate or apply adhesives or other materials to machines, machine parts, or other equipment according to specified procedures.
- Install, replace, or change machine parts and attachments, according to production specifications.
- Dismantle machines and remove parts for repair, using hand tools, chain falls, jacks, cranes, or hoists.
- Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information.
- Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Post-Secondary Certificate (54.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (36.3%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (36.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Maintenance Workers, Machinery 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 | Lower on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 84% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Low | Lower on teamwork than 60% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 77% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 63% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 60% of occupations compared | 26% 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 71% of occupations compared | 32% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 86% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: very high
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: 6.03%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 55.16%
- Constant contact with others: 38.81%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 49.67%
- Fairly important: 13.84%
- Important: 4.6%
- Very important: 8.96%
- Extremely important: 22.93%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 2.72%
- Important: 21.02%
- Very important: 36.17%
- Extremely important: 40.09%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 1.47%
- Limited freedom: 9.76%
- Some freedom: 32.14%
- A lot of freedom: 56.63%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 7.25%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40.68%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.19%
- Every day: 32.87%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 24.24%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 26.19%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.46%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.9%
- Every day: 19.21%
n = 21, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 27.18%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 31.61%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 20.16%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.8%
- Every day: 7.25%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 1.47%
- Fairly serious: 22.31%
- Serious: 16.52%
- Very serious: 7.25%
- Extremely serious: 52.45%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2024
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Find more alternativesCompare skills with another job
O*NET-SOC 49-9043.00 · SOC 49-9043 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8