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Date: 06/22/2025

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.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Adjust, clean, and lubricate mechanical parts of machines, using hand tools and grease guns.
    • Load machines with objects to be processed and unload them after cleaning, placing them on conveyors or racks.
    • Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
    • Examine and inspect machines to detect malfunctions.
    • Observe machine operations, gauges, or thermometers, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions.
    • Add specified amounts of chemicals to equipment at required times to maintain solution levels and concentrations.
    • Draw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity.
    • Measure, weigh, or mix cleaning solutions, using measuring tanks, calibrated rods or suction tubes.
    • Set controls to regulate temperature and length of cycles, and start conveyors, pumps, agitators, and machines.
    • Record gauge readings, materials used, processing times, or test results in production logs.
    • Draw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity.
    • Load machines with objects to be processed and unload them after cleaning, placing them on conveyors or racks.
    • Adjust, clean, and lubricate mechanical parts of machines, using hand tools and grease guns.

    Skills

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    3
    Workplace Documents
    3
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    Knowledge

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    Career Video

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    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 37860/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 18.2/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 850
    • Yearly Projected Openings 90

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Persistence
    • Achievement/Effort
    • Initiative
    • Stress Tolerance
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Adjustable wrenches
    • Calibrating tanks
    • Cleaning scrapers
    • Conveyor system
    • Ear plugs
    • Floor scrubbers
    • Forklifts
    • Grease guns
    • Hammers
    • Hand sprayers
    • Laboratory stirring rods
    • Mixers or agitators
    • Pallet trucks
    • Personal computers
    • Pipe and tube cleaning machine
    • Power buffers
    • Pressure or steam cleaners
    • Protective gloves
    • Respirators
    • Safety glasses
    • Scissor lift or lift table
    • Screwdrivers
    • Temperature regulators
    • Vacuum hose
    • Vacuum truck
    • Water pumps
    • Wet mops

    Technology

    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

    • InDemand occupations are considered a priority by the state of Ohio.

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