AI exposure: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
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.
Reading this score
computedHazardous Materials Removal Workers is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 4.2% of weighted task load, rank 885 of 923. 91.8% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 19 tasks it averages 2.84 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment..., at 50.0%. The least is Mix or pour concrete into forms to encase waste material for disposal, at 0.0%. A gap of 50.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within construction and extraction occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 5.1% across the group's 61 roles, with 34 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 19 tasks, 1 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 17 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.37 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.84 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.87 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.74 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.61 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.00 | 0-3 |
Task by task
19 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment or waste disposed. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.11 | exposed |
| Apply bioremediation techniques to hazardous wastes to allow naturally occurring bacteria to break down toxic substances. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 2.81 | assisted |
| Drive trucks or other heavy equipment to convey contaminated waste to designated sea or ground locations. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.56 | untouched |
| Identify asbestos, lead, or other hazardous materials to be removed, using monitoring devices. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.14 | untouched |
| Remove asbestos or lead from surfaces, using hand or power tools such as scrapers, vacuums, or high-pressure sprayers. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.56 | untouched |
| Build containment areas prior to beginning abatement or decontamination work. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.46 | untouched |
| Prepare hazardous material for removal or storage. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Comply with prescribed safety procedures or federal laws regulating waste disposal methods. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Clean contaminated equipment or areas for reuse, using detergents or solvents, sandblasters, filter pumps, or steam cleaners. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.06 | untouched |
| Clean mold-contaminated sites by removing damaged porous materials or thoroughly cleaning all contaminated nonporous materials. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Operate machines or equipment to remove, package, store, or transport loads of waste materials. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.97 | untouched |
| Load or unload materials into containers or onto trucks, using hoists or forklifts. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.84 | untouched |
| Sort specialized hazardous waste at landfills or disposal centers, following proper disposal procedures. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.80 | untouched |
| Remove or limit contamination following emergencies involving hazardous substances. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.82 | untouched |
| Organize or track the locations of hazardous items in landfills. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.64 | untouched |
| Identify or separate waste products or materials for recycling or reuse. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.34 | untouched |
| Process e-waste, such as computer components containing lead or mercury. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.04 | untouched |
| Operate cranes to move or load baskets, casks, or canisters. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.83 | untouched |
| Mix or pour concrete into forms to encase waste material for disposal. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 2.09 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.