Skip navigation

Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders - 51-9051.00

O*NET-SOC Description

Operate or tend heating equipment other than basic metal, plastic, or food processing equipment. Includes activities such as annealing glass, drying lumber, curing rubber, removing moisture from materials, or boiling soap.

Sample of Reported Job Titles

  • Annealing Operator
  • Dry Kiln Operator
  • Dryer Feeder
  • Evaporator Operator
  • Furnace Operator
  • Kiln Fireman
  • Kiln Operator
  • Lime Kiln and Recausticizing Operator
  • Oven Operator

SOC Occupation Groups

51-0000 Production Occupations
51-9000 Other Production Occupations
51-9050 Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders
51-9051.00 Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders

Related Occupations

Tasks

  • Calculate amounts of materials to be loaded into furnaces, adjusting amounts as necessary for specific conditions.
  • Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, using scrapers, solvents, air hoses, oil, and hand tools.
  • Confer with supervisors or other equipment operators to report equipment malfunctions or to resolve production problems.
  • Direct crane operators and crew members to load vessels with materials to be processed.
  • Examine or test samples of processed substances, or collect samples for laboratory testing, to ensure conformance to specifications.
  • Feed fuel, such as coal and coke, into fireboxes or onto conveyors, and remove ashes from furnaces, using shovels and buckets.
  • Load equipment receptacles or conveyors with material to be processed, by hand or using hoists.
  • Melt or refine metal before casting, calculating required temperatures, and observe metal color, adjusting controls as necessary to maintain required temperatures.
  • Monitor equipment operation, gauges, and panel lights to detect deviations from standards.
  • Press and adjust controls to activate, set, and regulate equipment according to specifications.
  • Read and interpret work orders and instructions to determine work assignments, process specifications, and production schedules.
  • Record gauge readings, test results, and shift production in log books.
  • Remove products from equipment, manually or using hoists, and prepare them for storage, shipment, or additional processing.
  • Replace worn or defective equipment parts, using hand tools.
  • Stop equipment and clear blockages or jams, using fingers, wire, or hand tools.
  • Transport materials and products to and from work areas, manually or using carts, handtrucks, or hoists.
  • Weigh or measure specified amounts of ingredients or materials for processing, using devices such as scales and calipers.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Adjust temperature controls of ovens or other heating equipment.
  • Calculate specific material, equipment, or labor requirements for production.
  • Clean production equipment.
  • Clear equipment jams.
  • Confer with others to resolve production problems or equipment malfunctions.
  • Direct operational or production activities.
  • Load materials into production equipment.
  • Lubricate production equipment.
  • Maintain production or processing equipment.
  • Measure ingredients or substances to be used in production processes.
  • Melt metal, plastic, or other materials to prepare for production.
  • Monitor equipment operation to ensure proper functioning.
  • Move products, materials, or equipment between work areas.
  • Read work orders or other instructions to determine product specifications or materials requirements.
  • Record operational or production data.
  • Remove products or workpieces from production equipment.
  • Replace worn equipment components.
  • Review blueprints or other instructions to determine operational methods or sequences.
  • Test chemical or physical characteristics of materials or products.

Military Crosswalk Titles

  • Machinery Repairman (Navy - Enlisted)
  • Machinery Repairman Apprentice (Navy - Enlisted)
  • Machinist (Marine Corps - Enlisted)

Apprenticeship Crosswalk Titles

  • Batch-and-Furnace Operator
  • Firer, Kiln (Pottery & Porc)
  • Kiln Operator (Woodworking)

DOT Crosswalk Titles

  • Acid Maker
  • Ager Operator
  • Annealer
  • Autoclave Operator
  • Autoclave Operator I
  • Autoclave Operator II
  • Back Tender, Insulation Board
  • Backing-in-Machine Tender
  • Batch-And-Furnace Operator
  • Black-Ash-Burner Operator
  • Black-Mill Operator
  • Boiler
  • Bone-Char Kiln Tender
  • Bone-Drier Operator
  • Briquetting-Machine Operator
  • Burner
  • Burner Tender
  • Burning-Plant Operator
  • Calcine-Furnace Tender
  • Calciner Operator
  • Carbon-Furnace Operator
  • Centrifugal-Drier Operator
  • Charcoal Burner, Beehive Kiln
  • Clay Roaster
  • Cloth Drier
  • Clothespin-Drier Operator
  • Coke Burner
  • Conditioner-Tumbler Operator
  • Continuous-Linter-Drier Operator
  • Control Operator
  • Cook
  • Cooker Tender
  • Core-Oven Tender
  • Cupola Operator, Insulation
  • Curing Oven Attendant
  • Curing-Oven Tender
  • Debubblizer
  • Drier
  • Drier Operator
  • Drier Operator I
  • Drier Operator II
  • Drier Operator III
  • Drier Operator IV
  • Drier Operator VI
  • Drier Tender
  • Drum-Drier Operator
  • Dry-Cans Operator
  • Dry-House Attendant
  • Dry-Kiln Operator
  • Drying-Machine Operator, Package Yarns
  • Drying-Machine Tender
  • Drying-Room Attendant
  • Drying-Unit-Felting-Machine Operator
  • Firer
  • Firer Helper
  • Firer, Kiln
  • Flame Degreaser
  • Flash-Drier Operator
  • Flat Drier
  • Furnace Operator
  • Glass-Furnace Tender
  • Hair-Boiler Operator
  • Heater II
  • Heater Tender
  • Impregnator and Drier
  • Incinerator Operator I
  • Kettle Operator
  • Kettle Tender
  • Kettle Tender I
  • Kettle Worker
  • Kiln Burner
  • Kiln Operator
  • Label Drier
  • Lead-Nitrate Processor
  • Lehr Tender
  • Lens Hardener
  • Lime-Kiln Operator
  • Lime-Sludge Kiln Operator
  • Log Cooker
  • Matrix-Drier Tender
  • Nodulizer
  • Oil Boiler
  • Operator, Automated Process
  • Oven Operator
  • Oven Tender
  • Oven-Press Tender I
  • Oven-Press Tender II
  • Pad-Extractor Tender
  • Pigment Furnace Tender
  • Plant Operator, Channel Process
  • Plastics-Seasoner Operator
  • Polymerization-Oven Operator
  • Pot Firer
  • Pot Tender
  • Primer Expeditor and Drier
  • Rabble-Furnace Tender
  • Raw-Stock-Drier Tender
  • Red-Lead Burner
  • Reduction-Furnace Operator
  • Reel-Blade-Bender Furnace Tender
  • Regenerator Operator
  • Rivet Heater
  • Rotary-Furnace Tender
  • Rotary-Kiln Operator
  • Rug-Dry-Room Attendant
  • Rug-Drying-Machine Operator
  • Shrink-Pit Operator
  • Skein-Yarn Drier
  • Soap-Drier Operator
  • Spray-Drier Operator
  • Standpipe Tender
  • Steam-Box Operator
  • Steam-Tank Operator
  • Still Operator
  • Stove-Carriage Operator
  • Tenter-Frame Operator
  • Thaw-Shed Heater Tender
  • Tower Operator
  • Tray Drier
  • Tray-Drier Operator
  • Treating Engineer
  • Treating-Plant Operator
  • Tumbler Operator
  • Tumbler Tender
  • Tunnel-Kiln Operator
  • Unit Operator
  • Vacuum-Drier Operator
  • Vacuum-Drier Tender
  • Varnish Maker
  • Veneer Drier
  • Veneer Redrier