Occupation

Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders

Human Advantage 67%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Moderate Risk
3.5 / 10

Some tasks in this role may be augmented by AI, but human oversight and interpersonal skills remain important.

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.

Also Known As: Ammonia Refrigeration Worker, Batch Freezer, Batch Freezer Operator, Brewery Cellar Worker, Brewery Worker, Cellar Person, Certified Refrigeration Operator, Chiller Operator +46 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Record temperatures, amounts of materials processed, or test results on report forms.
  2. 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.
  3. Read dials and gauges on panel control boards to ascertain temperatures, alkalinities, and densities of mixtures, and turn valves to obtain specified mixtures.
  4. Start machinery, such as pumps, feeders, or conveyors, and turn valves to heat, admit, or transfer products, refrigerants, or mixes.
  5. Correct machinery malfunctions by performing actions such as removing jams, and inform supervisors of malfunctions as necessary.
  6. Assemble equipment, and attach pipes, fittings, or valves, using hand tools.

Supplemental Tasks (12)

  1. Measure or weigh specified amounts of ingredients or materials, and load them into tanks, vats, hoppers, or other equipment.
  2. Adjust machine or freezer speed and air intake to obtain desired consistency and amount of product.
  3. Weigh packages and adjust freezer air valves or switches on filler heads to obtain specified amounts of product in each container.
  4. Inspect and flush lines with solutions or steam, and spray equipment with sterilizing solutions.
  5. Load and position wrapping paper, sticks, bags, or cartons into dispensing machines.
  6. Sample and test product characteristics such as specific gravity, acidity, and sugar content, using hydrometers, pH meters, or refractometers.
  7. Start agitators to blend contents, or start beater, scraper, and expeller blades to mix contents with air and prevent sticking.
  8. Insert forming fixtures, and start machines that cut frozen products into measured portions or specified shapes.
  9. Place or position containers into equipment, and remove containers after completion of cooling or freezing processes.
  10. Scrape, dislodge, or break excess frost, ice, or frozen product from equipment to prevent accumulation, using hands and hand tools.
  11. Activate mechanical rakes to regulate flow of ice from storage bins to vats.
  12. Stir material with spoons or paddles to mix ingredients or allow even cooling and prevent coagulation.

Education & Training

Job Zone 2 Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education: These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Experience: Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Less than a High School Diploma
51%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
41%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
7%
Some College Courses
0%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word

Software (5)

  • Google Gmail

Tools & Equipment (77)

  • Air compressors
  • Air purifying respirators
  • Air-cooled condensers
  • Ammonia detectors
  • Ammonia pressure gauges
  • Auto-purgers
  • Back-pressure regulators
  • Batch freezers
  • Belt freezers
  • Blast tunnel freezers
  • Boiler generators
  • Compound gauges
  • Decontamination shower stations
  • Defrost relief valves
  • Depth gauges
  • Digital ammeters
  • Digital calipers
  • Digital flowmeters
  • Digital hydrometers
  • Digital manometers
  • Digital micrometers
  • Direct expansion evaporators
  • Electronic refrigerant leak detectors
  • Evaporative condensers
  • Eyewash stations
  • Falling film heat exchangers
  • Flash intercoolers
  • Flooded evaporators
  • Fluidized bed freezers
  • Freezing agitators
  • Hand expansion valves
  • Handheld refractometers
  • Hermetic pumps
  • High pressure receivers
  • Ice cube forming machines
  • Immersion freezers
  • Impervious boots
  • Intercoolers
  • Liquid level indicators
  • Liquid overfeed evaporators
  • Low pressure accumulators
  • Magnehelic pressure gauges
  • Ohm meters
  • Oil coolers
  • Oil level regulators
  • Oil pumps
  • Oil separators
  • Personal computers
  • Plate freezers
  • Plate heat exchangers
  • Portable fire extinguishers
  • Positive displacement compressors
  • Pressure relief valves
  • Protective ear plugs
  • Protective glasses
  • Reciprocating compressors
  • Recirculators
  • Refrigerant compressors
  • Refrigerant pumps
  • Remote thermometers
  • Rotary screw compressors
  • Rotary vane compressors
  • Scissor lifts
  • Scraped surface heat exchangers
  • Secondary fluid pumps
  • Shell and tube heat exchangers
  • Spiral freezers
  • Surge drums
  • Telescopic booms
  • Thermal fluid systems
  • Thermosiphon oil coolers
  • Thermostatic expansion valves
  • Ultraviolet UV lamps
  • Volt meters
  • Water chilling systems
  • Water-cooled condensers
  • pH testers

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Production & Automation Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 2
Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders You are here
Zone 5

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