Clean work areas
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 33 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Performing General Physical Activities (4.A.3.a.1) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 33 occupations that perform it.
- Clean the projection booth.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.
- Perform work activities of subordinates, such as cleaning and organizing shelves and displays and selling merchandise.
- Maintain clean and orderly checkout areas, and complete other general cleaning duties, such as mopping floors and emptying trash cans.
- Clean casino areas.
- Maintain and clean work and inventory areas.
- Clean shelves, counters, and tables.
- Keep areas neat while working and return items to correct locations following demonstrations.
- Remove loose wires and other debris after work is completed.
- Clean work areas, using air hoses, to remove damaged material and discarded fiberglass strips used in repair procedures.
- Maintain cleanliness of work area.
- Clean and tidy up the shop.
- Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and work areas.
- Perform general cleaning of buildings or properties.
- Clean or lubricate vehicles, machinery, equipment, instruments, tools, work areas, and other objects, using hand tools, power tools, and cleaning equipment.
- Shovel, sweep, or otherwise clean work areas.
- Clean and sterilize vats and factory processing areas.
- Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
33 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
- Automotive Body and Related Repairers
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
- Biofuels Processing Technicians
- Biomass Plant Technicians
- Cashiers
- Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Demonstrators and Product Promoters
- Embalmers
- Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
- Food Batchmakers
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders
- Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers
- Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
- Helpers--Production Workers
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians
- Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
- Maintenance and Repair Workers, General
- Maintenance Workers, Machinery
- Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Motion Picture Projectionists
- Parts Salespersons
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers
- Recycling and Reclamation Workers
- Retail Salespersons
- Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
- Team Assemblers
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
- Tire Repairers and Changers
- Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
- Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.