How to become Hazardous Materials Removal Worker in 2024

Hazardous Materials Removal Worker Identify, remove, pack, transport, or dispose of hazardous materials, including asbestos, lead-based paint, waste oil, fuel, transmission fluid, radioactive materials, or contaminated soil. Specialized training and certification in hazardous materials handling or a confined entry permit are generally required. May operate earth-moving equipment or trucks.

Hazardous Materials Removal Worker is Also Know as

In different settings, Hazardous Materials Removal Worker is titled as

  • Abatement Worker
  • Asbestos Abatement Worker
  • Asbestos Hazard Abatement Worker
  • Asbestos Remover
  • Asbestos Worker
  • Decontamination and Decommissioning Operator (D and D Operator)
  • Hazmat Technician (Hazardous Materials Technician)
  • Waste Handling Technician

Education and Training of Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

Hazardous Materials Removal Worker is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

Training Required for Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Hazardous Materials Removal Worker in different industries are

What Do Hazardous Materials Removal Worker do?

  • Comply with prescribed safety procedures or federal laws regulating waste disposal methods.
  • Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment or waste disposed.
  • Drive trucks or other heavy equipment to convey contaminated waste to designated sea or ground locations.
  • Operate machines or equipment to remove, package, store, or transport loads of waste materials.
  • Load or unload materials into containers or onto trucks, using hoists or forklifts.
  • Clean contaminated equipment or areas for reuse, using detergents or solvents, sandblasters, filter pumps, or steam cleaners.
  • Remove asbestos or lead from surfaces, using hand or power tools such as scrapers, vacuums, or high-pressure sprayers.
  • Upload baskets of irradiated elements onto machines that insert fuel elements into canisters and secure lids.
  • Identify asbestos, lead, or other hazardous materials to be removed, using monitoring devices.
  • Package, store, or move irradiated fuel elements in the underwater storage basins of nuclear reactor plants, using machines or equipment.
  • Organize or track the locations of hazardous items in landfills.
  • Operate cranes to move or load baskets, casks, or canisters.
  • Mix or pour concrete into forms to encase waste material for disposal.
  • Apply bioremediation techniques to hazardous wastes to allow naturally occurring bacteria to break down toxic substances.
  • Clean mold-contaminated sites by removing damaged porous materials or thoroughly cleaning all contaminated nonporous materials.
  • Identify or separate waste products or materials for recycling or reuse.
  • Process e-waste, such as computer components containing lead or mercury.
  • Remove or limit contamination following emergencies involving hazardous substances.
  • Sort specialized hazardous waste at landfills or disposal centers, following proper disposal procedures.
  • Build containment areas prior to beginning abatement or decontamination work.
  • Prepare hazardous material for removal or storage.

Qualities of Good Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

  • Adjustable wrenches
  • Aerosol meters
  • Air monitoring equipment
  • Air pollutant monitors
  • Air sampling devices
  • Air sampling pumps
  • Air scrubbers
  • Alpha radiation meters
  • Asbestos sample containers
  • Beta radiation meters
  • Blowers
  • Borescopes
  • Bulldozers
  • Chemical agent detectors
  • Chemical protective aprons
  • Chemical protective boots
  • Chemical protective clothing
  • Chemical protective coveralls
  • Chemical protective face shields
  • Chemical protective gloves
  • Chemical protective head covers
  • Chemical solution sprayers
  • Claw hammers
  • Color changing gas detection devices
  • Colorimetric detector tubes/badges
  • Combustible gas indicators
  • Concrete mixers
  • Crowbars
  • Curtain booms
  • Dataloggers
  • Decontamination trailers
  • Decontamination units
  • Dehumidifiers
  • Desktop computers
  • Dosimeters
  • Dredges
  • Dust collectors
  • Electrochemical gas monitors
  • Excavators
  • Eyewash fountains
  • Filter pumps
  • Filtered vacuums
  • Flame ionization detectors FID
  • Flame spectroscopy detection instruments
  • Fluorescence immunochromatography systems
  • Forklifts
  • Gamma radiation meters
  • Gas chromatographs GC
  • Gas detector tubes
  • Gas leak detection devices
  • Groundwater sampling equipment
  • Handheld concrete and coating removal systems
  • High-efficiency particulate air HEPA vacuums
  • High-pressure water sprayers
  • High-temperature protective clothing
  • Hoists
  • Hydraulic booms
  • Hygrometers
  • Infrared IR spectrometers
  • Ladders
  • Large trucks
  • Lead testing kits
  • Level A encapsulated suits
  • Level B encapsulated suits
  • Light trucks
  • Liquid leak detection equipment
  • Liquid splash protective clothing
  • Mechanical arms
  • Moisture meters
  • Negative pressure respirators
  • Neutron detectors
  • Notebook computers
  • Nut drivers
  • Oleophilic booms
  • Oxygen concentration instruments
  • Personal air monitors
  • Personal computers
  • Personal protective suits
  • pH indicators
  • pH meters
  • Photoionization detectors PID
  • Pneumatic scabbling tools
  • Pneumatic scaling tools
  • Portable chemical agent detection devices
  • Positive displacement vacuum equipment
  • Positive pressure self contained breathing apparatus
  • Power sanders
  • Putty knives
  • Radiation survey meters
  • Radon detection devices
  • Remote control track robots
  • Respirators
  • Robotic crawler dredges
  • Safety glasses
  • Safety gloves
  • Sandblasters
  • Scaffolding
  • Scrapers
  • Screwdrivers
  • Self-contained protective suits
  • Shovels
  • Slurry blast equipment
  • Soil samplers
  • Soil vapor extraction units
  • Steam cleaning equipment
  • Steel shot recyclable blasting equipment
  • Tablet computers
  • Thermoluminescent dosimeters
  • Total vapor survey instruments
  • Truck cranes
  • Two way radios
  • Utility knives
  • Vacuum blast equipment
  • Vans
  • Vapor protective garments
  • Ventilation equipment
  • Ventilation fans
  • Water samplers
  • Water sampling pumps
  • Winches
  • Wire cutters
  • X ray fluorescence XRF lead testing analyzers

Technology Skills required for Hazardous Materials Removal Worker

  • Computerized maintenance management system software CMMS
  • Database software
  • Internet browser software
  • Inventory management systems
  • Jenkins CI
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Presentation software
  • SAP software
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Word processing software
  • Xactware Xactimate