# Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders

> Operate or tend furnaces, such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces, to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel.

- Code: 51-4051.00 (O*NET-SOC; SOC 2018 51-4051)
- Family: [Production](https://foundation.org.ai/occupations#family-51), one of its 114 occupations
- Tasks: 15 tasks (9 core and 6 supplemental)
- Page: https://foundation.org.ai/occupations/51-4051.00
- JSON: https://foundation.org.ai/data/tasks/51-4051.00.json

## What the work is made of

1. Regulate supplies of fuel and air, or control flow of electric current and water coolant to heat furnaces and adjust temperatures.  
   Core task · Task 10163 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
2. Draw smelted metal samples from furnaces or kettles for analysis, and calculate types and amounts of materials needed to ensure that materials meet specifications.  
   Core task · Task 10158 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
3. Weigh materials to be charged into furnaces, using scales.  
   Core task · Task 10162 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
4. Record production data, and maintain production logs.  
   Core task · Task 10160 · Rated by 63 people who do the job, August 2018
5. Observe air and temperature gauges or metal color and fluidity, and turn fuel valves or adjust controls to maintain required temperatures.  
   Core task · Task 10165 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
6. Operate controls to move or discharge metal workpieces from furnaces.  
   Core task · Task 10161 · Rated by 63 people who do the job, August 2018
7. Inspect furnaces and equipment to locate defects and wear.  
   Core task · Task 10164 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
8. Drain, transfer, or remove molten metal from furnaces, and place it into molds, using hoists, pumps, or ladles.  
   Core task · Task 10159 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
9. Kindle fires, and shovel fuel and other materials into furnaces or onto conveyors by hand, with hoists, or by directing crane operators.  
   Core task · Task 10168 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
10. Prepare material to load into furnaces, including cleaning, crushing, or applying chemicals, by using crushing machines, shovels, rakes, or sprayers.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10171 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
11. Remove impurities from the surface of molten metal, using strainers.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10167 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018
12. Observe operations inside furnaces, using television screens, to ensure that problems do not occur.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10166 · Rated by 63 people who do the job, August 2018
13. Sprinkle chemicals over molten metal to bring impurities to the surface.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10169 · Rated by 63 people who do the job, August 2018
14. Direct work crews in the cleaning and repair of furnace walls and flooring.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10170 · Rated by 63 people who do the job, August 2018
15. Scrape accumulations of metal oxides from floors, molds, and crucibles, and sift and store them for reclamation.  
   Supplemental task · Task 10172 · Rated by 64 people who do the job, August 2018

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## Where this comes from

Quoted from O*NET 29.0, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0: free to copy and reuse, with credit. Nothing on this page is written by the Org.AI Foundation.
