What do they do?

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.

Also known 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), Radiological Control and Safety Technician, Waste Handling Technician

Typical Wages

Projected Growth Rate

Employment of Hazardous Materials Removal Workers is projected to show little or no change from 2022 to 2032.

Projected Employment in MD

No Data Available
  • 1.6%

    Change

    Ranks #37 in job growth rate
    140

    Job Openings

    Ranks #18 in net job growth

Colleges with the most graduates that become Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

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Education Level

Percent of workers in this field with these degrees:

  • High school diploma equivalent  (40%)
  • Some college, no degree  (26%)
  • Less than high school diploma  (13%)
  • Bachelor's degree  (10%)
  • Associate's degree  (8%)
  • Master's degree  (2%)
  • Doctorate or Professional Degree  (<1%)

Typical College Majors

Most Popular Majors that prepare Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

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★ There are no majors that have graduates with this degree type

People in this career often have these skills:

  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

People in this career often know a lot about:

  • Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

People in this career often have talent in:

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • 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).
  • 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.

People in this career often do these activities:

  • Assemble temporary equipment or structures.
  • Prepare hazardous waste for processing or disposal.
  • Inspect work sites to identify potential environmental or safety hazards.
  • Record operational or environmental data.
  • Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
  • Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
  • Load or unload materials used in construction or extraction.
  • Decontaminate equipment or sites to remove hazardous or toxic substances.
  • Mix substances or compounds needed for work activities.
  • Pour materials into or on designated areas.
  • Apply new technologies to improve work processes.

This page includes data from:

O*NET OnLine Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Logo Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics

careeronestop logo Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development

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