Home / Tasks / Collect samples of materials or products for testing
In 3 of the 18 jobs that do this, AI or robots already show up on it, most often as robots doing it. In the other 15, there's no evidence yet. Jobs spend a median of 18m of an 8-hour shift on it, and about 1.4 million U.S. workers hold these jobs.
Every job that does this
Each job words the task its own way. Minutes are that job's estimate for a typical shift; the label is the evidence for that job's version.
| Job and its version of the task | Per shift | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System OperatorsCollect and test water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards. | 1h 11m | No evidence yet |
| Printing Press OperatorsCollect and inspect random samples during print runs to identify any necessary adjustments. | 53m | No evidence yet |
| Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and TendersDraw smelted metal samples from furnaces or kettles for analysis, and calculate types and amounts of materials needed to ensure that materials meet specifications. | 40m | Robots |
| Biofuels Processing TechniciansCollect biofuels samples and perform routine laboratory tests or analyses to assess biofuels quality. | 36m | No evidence yet |
| Chemical Plant and System OperatorsDraw samples of products and conduct quality control tests to monitor processing and to ensure that standards are met. | 33m | No evidence yet |
| Chemical Equipment Operators and TendersDraw samples of products at specified stages so that analyses can be performed. | 22m | No evidence yet |
| Food Cooking Machine Operators and TendersCollect and examine product samples during production to test them for quality, color, content, consistency, viscosity, acidity, or specific gravity. | 20m | No evidence yet |
| Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, RecordkeepingCollect product samples and prepare them for laboratory analysis or testing. | 19m | No evidence yet |
| Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersCollect samples of materials or products for laboratory analysis. | 18m | No evidence yet |
| Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and TendersSample and test product characteristics such as specific gravity, acidity, and sugar content, using hydrometers, pH meters, or refractometers. | 18m | No evidence yet |
| Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and GaugersCollect product samples by turning bleeder valves, or by lowering containers into tanks to obtain oil samples. | 17m | No evidence yet |
| Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and TendersTake product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and WeighersCollect or select samples for testing or for use as models. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Metal Pourers and CastersCollect samples, or signal workers to sample metal for analysis. | 12m | Robots |
| Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersCollect samples of materials or products for laboratory testing. | 12m | No evidence yet |
| Cleaning, Washing, and Metal Pickling Equipment Operators and TendersDraw samples for laboratory analysis, or test solutions for conformance to specifications, such as acidity or specific gravity. | 12m | Robots |
| Power Plant OperatorsCollect oil, water, or electrolyte samples for laboratory analysis. | 6m | No evidence yet |
| Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and TendersCollect samples of materials or products for laboratory testing. | 6m | No evidence yet |
How to read this
This task type comes from O*NET's detailed work activities, which link similar tasks across jobs. A label applies to one job's version of the task: AI use comes from real AI conversations (Anthropic Economic Index) and robot evidence from deployments in real workplaces. "No evidence yet" may just mean the task is rare in the data. How we keep time.
See all 250 shared tasks, or find any job on the big clock.