Explore by Career/Production
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
Operate or tend equipment such as cooling and freezing units, refrigerators, batch freezers, and freezing tunnels, to cool or freeze products, food, blood plasma, and chemicals.
- Median pay
- $40,160
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +7.2%
- Growing
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Complex Problem Solving
- Speaking
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
What they do
- Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.
- Monitor pressure gauges, ammeters, flowmeters, thermometers, or products, and adjust controls to maintain specified conditions, such as feed rate, product consistency, temperature, air pressure, and machine speed.
- Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.
- Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
- Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.
- Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools.
- Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment.
- Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.
- Weigh packages and adjust freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container.
- Inspect and flush lines with solutions or steam, and spray equipment with sterilizing solutions.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.