About This Career

Controls or tends conveyors or conveyor systems that move materials or products to and from stockpiles, processing stations, departments, or vehicles. May control speed and routing of materials or products.

This career is part of the Architecture and Construction cluster Construction pathway.

A person in this career:

• Informs supervisors of equipment malfunctions that need to be addressed.
• Observes conveyor operations and monitors lights, dials, and gauges to maintain specified operating levels and to detect equipment malfunctions.
• Records production data such as weights, types, quantities, and storage locations of materials, as well as equipment performance problems and downtime.
• Loads, unloads, or adjusts materials or products on conveyors by hand, by using lifts, hoists, and scoops, or by opening gates, chutes, or hoppers.
• Stops equipment or machinery and clears jams, using poles, bars, and hand tools, or removes damaged materials from conveyors.
• Distributes materials, supplies, and equipment to work stations, using lifts and trucks.
• Observes packages moving along conveyors to identify packages, detect defective packaging, and perform quality control.
• Collects samples of materials or products, checking them to ensure conformance to specifications or sending them to laboratories for analysis.
• Positions deflector bars, gates, chutes, or spouts to divert flow of materials from one conveyor onto another conveyor.
• Repairs or replaces equipment components or parts such as blades, rolls, and pumps.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 20 lbs., sometimes up to 50 lbs. You might do a lot of lifting, carrying, pushing or pulling.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Conditions are very hot (above 90 F) or very cold (under 32 F)
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting
• Work in this occupation requires being outside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Judging how far away an object is, or which of several objects is closer or farther away
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying objects
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Rotating shift work