Will AI replace Hazardous Materials Removal Workers?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
4/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 10% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 8% of the work
What the job involves
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.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(2)
- Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment or waste disposed.
- Apply bioremediation techniques to hazardous wastes to allow naturally occurring bacteria to break down toxic substances.
Out of reach(17)
- Prepare hazardous material for removal or storage.
- Comply with prescribed safety procedures or federal laws regulating waste disposal methods.
- Build containment areas prior to beginning abatement or decontamination work.
- Remove asbestos or lead from surfaces, using hand or power tools such as scrapers, vacuums, or high-pressure sprayers.
- Clean contaminated equipment or areas for reuse, using detergents or solvents, sandblasters, filter pumps, or steam cleaners.
and 12 more
Also called
Asbestos Abatement Worker · Asbestos Worker · Hazmat Technician (Hazardous Materials Technician) · Asbestos Remover · Hazmat Technician · Abatement Worker · Asbestos Coverer · Asbestos Handler
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics