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.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Hazardous Materials Removal Workers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $38,460 | $18.49 |
| 25th | $44,720 | $21.50 |
| 50th · Median | $49,450 | $23.78 |
| 75th | $61,530 | $29.58 |
| 90th | $82,410 | $39.62 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (17)
Typical tasks
- Remove asbestos or lead from surfaces, using hand or power tools such as scrapers, vacuums, or high-pressure sprayers.
- Build containment areas prior to beginning abatement or decontamination work.
- Prepare hazardous material for removal or storage.
- Comply with prescribed safety procedures or federal laws regulating waste disposal methods.
- Record numbers of containers stored at disposal sites, specifying amounts or types of equipment or waste disposed.
- Clean contaminated equipment or areas for reuse, using detergents or solvents, sandblasters, filter pumps, or steam cleaners.
Expand more tasks (13)
- Clean mold-contaminated sites by removing damaged porous materials or thoroughly cleaning all contaminated nonporous materials.
- Operate machines or equipment to remove, package, store, or transport loads of waste materials.
- Load or unload materials into containers or onto trucks, using hoists or forklifts.
- Sort specialized hazardous waste at landfills or disposal centers, following proper disposal procedures.
- Identify asbestos, lead, or other hazardous materials to be removed, using monitoring devices.
- Remove or limit contamination following emergencies involving hazardous substances.
- Organize or track the locations of hazardous items in landfills.
- Drive trucks or other heavy equipment to convey contaminated waste to designated sea or ground locations.
- Identify or separate waste products or materials for recycling or reuse.
- Process e-waste, such as computer components containing lead or mercury.
- Operate cranes to move or load baskets, casks, or canisters.
- Apply bioremediation techniques to hazardous wastes to allow naturally occurring bacteria to break down toxic substances.
- Mix or pour concrete into forms to encase waste material for disposal.
Skills used in this work
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Expand more skills (29)
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
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