Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders

Operate or tend equipment to control chemical changes or reactions in the processing of industrial or consumer products. Equipment used includes devulcanizers, steam-jacketed kettles, and reactor vessels.

The occupation "Chemical Equipment Operators and Tenders" has an automation risk of 53.7%, closely matching its base risk of 54.3%. This suggests that slightly more than half of the tasks performed in this role could be susceptible to automation with current or near-future technologies. Automation risk in this field is influenced partly by the repetitive and procedural nature of many tasks, which align well with machine capabilities. The average risk indicates that, while a significant portion of the job could be automated, there are still essential functions that require human intervention, keeping the occupation moderately secure for the time being. However, as automation and AI technologies advance, the balance between automatable and resistant tasks could shift further toward automation in coming years. The most automatable tasks for chemical equipment operators are typically those that can be standardized, programmed, and monitored by automated systems or robots. For example, "observing safety precautions to prevent fires or explosions" can increasingly be handled by sensors and automated shutdown protocols. Similarly, "recording operational data, such as temperatures, pressures, ingredients used, processing times, or test results" is highly automatable given the prevalence of digital data acquisition and monitoring systems in industrial settings. Additionally, "controlling or operating equipment in which chemical changes or reactions take place during the processing of industrial or consumer products" can be achieved with programmable logic controllers and automated process management systems. Together, these tasks represent core responsibilities that are efficiently managed by technology, contributing to the occupation's substantial automation risk. Despite the high proportion of automatable tasks, certain responsibilities within this occupation remain resistant to automation. Activities such as "inventorying supplies received and consumed" require not only physical presence and manual counting but also judgment and adaptability, which machines currently struggle to replicate fully in unpredictable industrial environments. Tasks like "making minor repairs, lubricating, and maintaining equipment using hand tools" involve manual dexterity, troubleshooting, and adaptation to specific mechanical issues, which also resist automation. Lastly, "flushing or cleaning equipment using steam hoses or mechanical reamers" involves physically demanding, varied work that can be challenging to automate across all scenarios. The low bottleneck skill—Originality at just 2.3%—implies that the occupation relies minimally on creative problem-solving, contributing to its moderate, rather than high, resistance to automation. The combination of these resistant tasks and the relatively low requirement for originality helps maintain the occupation’s status as somewhat, but not entirely, susceptible to automation.