About This Career

Uses hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Production pathway.

A person in this career:

• Uses knives, cleavers, meat saws, bandsaws, or other equipment to perform meat cutting and trimming.
• Weighs meats and tags containers for weight and contents.
• Inspects meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and removes them along with any excess fat.
• Cuts and trims meat to prepare for packing.
• Separates meats and byproducts into specified containers and seals containers.
• Processes primal parts into cuts that are ready for retail use.
• Prepares ready-to-heat foods by filleting meat or fish or cutting it into bite-sized pieces, preparing and adding vegetables or applying sauces or breading.
• Cleans, trims, slices, and sections carcasses for future processing.
• Removes parts, such as skin, feathers, scales or bones, from carcass.
• Prepares sausages, luncheon meats, hot dogs, and other fabricated meat products, using meat trimmings and hamburger meat.

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 bending or twisting your body more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• 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
• Work in this occupation requires being inside most of the time
• Work in this occupation involves making repetitive motions more than one-third of the time
• Work in this occupation involves standing more than one-third of the time

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person
• Using abdominal and lower back muscles repeatedly or over time without tiring

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel