OLMIS

by Jason Payton
Published Jul-8-2010

Introduction Dirty Jobs in Oregon Job Duties Vary, Getting Dirty Can be Universal Dirty Conditions May Impact Earnings License or Degree May be Necessary Job Growth Mixed, Muddy No End in Sight for Dirty Jobs

Standing in front of a huddle of milk cows, Mike Rowe can see his breath in the brisk pre-dawn air. Several layers of clothes can't hide his general discontent and longing for the warmth of shelter and a nice cup of hot chocolate. But he has work to do. His supervisor hands him a small aluminum tin and describes the task at hand. An important step in dairy farming is to know the dietary health of the cows. A sample of what the cows have eaten would tell the dairy farmer whether changes in grazing or dietary supplements would be necessary. Unfortunately, the most efficient way to check on the animal's diet is to take fresh samples. With a grin of understanding Mike sets off to collect his prize. After a few minutes he gracefully glides through the bovine hoard and returns to his supervisor, tin in hand.

You may not know the name, but you probably know Mike Rowe. He is the host of Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs." Every episode he sets out to profile jobs that can leave him at times soot ridden, drenched, gritty, charred, hypothermic, slobbered on and all other kinds of dirty. Table 1 includes a few of the more than 200 job titles Mike Rowe has taken on since 2005.

Over the years Rowe has proven the truth of the time honored adage, "It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it." Many job duties, like the dairy farmer collecting samples, are quite necessary for industrial production. The jobs can also be personally rewarding. The services and products these jobs produce can be absolutely necessary for the communities we live in. According to the program's website, found at  www.discoverychannel.com, Rowe says that, "It's surprising how many people come home from relatively 'clean' jobs at the end of the day feeling bitter and miserable. Whereas the people I meet, by and large, seem really content with their lives, and happy with their dirty jobs."

Many of the jobs Mike Rowe has profiled exist here in Oregon, including water treatment systems operators and metal refining furnace workers.

One of the most vital services in our local communities is water treatment. We need potable water to drink and use in our daily lives. Water and waste water treatment systems operators ensure that the tap is running and the water is safe. Darryl Sykes is a water and waste water treatment system operator in Scappoose. He has been in the industry for 14 years and has literally worked on the front and back end of the community's water system. "It can be a thankless job, or at least it seems that way sometimes," Sykes said. The water works is not just a board space in Monopoly. Water systems have to stay flowing and working. System operators maintain, monitor, and test those systems. In 2008, there were 1,186 water and liquid waste treatment plant or system operators in Oregon. Local government was the largest employer for system operators, employing 953 in 2008.

Imagine standing next to an open hearth furnace filled with molten steel. Only feet away, charge cars moving along rail lines dump off scrap, and collect molten slag and steel. Mark Miller, now a manager for the Workforce & Economic Research Division of the Employment Department, worked as a furnace tender, also known as a carbometer, in the 1970s. He worked at the 3,000-acre U.S. Steel location known as the Gary Works, on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Steel is one of the fundamental inputs in manufacturing, construction, and public works. In the fourth quarter of 2009 there were three active steel mills in Oregon. More broadly, there were almost 7,500 jobs in Oregon's primary metals companies. Mills employ a wide variety of occupations that may include: engineers, rolling or extruding machine operators, furnace operators or tenders, metal casters and pourers, and material handlers. There were 315 Oregon furnace operators or tenders in 2008. Metal refining furnace operators and tenders may work in climate controlled pulpits, or up close to furnaces filled with molten steel heated over 2,000 degrees. Mark Miller used thermal underwear in the summer just to stay cool. But even away from the heat of the mill there are more dirty jobs. Dirty jobs can be found at every stage of industrial production. There really is no end to the list of Oregon jobs that will get your hands dirty.

Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators maintain, test and monitor the processes needed to purify water. The Scappoose site is a conventional treatment plant used to treat surface water from creeks and rivers. Scappoose has a secondary underground source. The underground source is high in iron and manganese, so along with the general filtration and chlorination of the water, it is oxidized to separate those elements from the water. Waste systems operators monitor the facilities that turn untreated waste water into effluent releasable water.

Water and liquid water treatment processes produce solid waste. This material is called a bio-solid. This waste is typically disposed of by trucking it offsite to landfills, or to agricultural areas to be used as fertilizer. "We're pretty fortunate," Sykes says. "The Scappoose plant sits on an 80-acre site. We can land apply the bio-solids on site and save money by not trucking it away."

Daily tasks can be physically demanding and test your mechanical aptitude. Operators maintain and repair the pumping and mechanical systems of the plant. Operators also test water samples on a daily basis. Sykes remembers one instance when a four-foot span of rebar worked its way into a pump, "We had to completely remove the pump to finally get it out." Waste treatment is challenging. Sykes says that, "Those who stay on have to get used to the environment. You're next to raw sewage, drawing samples daily. That can be tough."

A carbometer is one type of metal refining furnace tender. Metal refining furnace operators or tenders can operate or tend furnaces - such as gas, oil, coal, electric-arc or electric induction, open-hearth, or oxygen furnaces - to melt and refine metal before casting or to produce specified types of steel. They may also drain, transfer, or remove molten metal from furnaces, and place it into molds, using hoists, pumps, or ladles. As a carbometer, Mark Miller would collect a spike-shaped sample of the molten steel in the furnace. He would put the sample into a sensor that reads carbon content which would determine whether the steel met production specifications. He remembers how proficient some the tenders became at testing the steel. "Some of the old timers would take two samples; one for them, one for me. They'd whack their sample against something and guess what the reading would be. Usually they were pretty close."

There can be a premium in your paycheck when something needs to be done and no one else wants to do it. The Oregon median wage for metal refining furnace operators or tenders in 2010 was $21.36. The median wage for water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators was $22.04.

These and many other challenging jobs typically require a high school degree and on-the-job training. The 2008 American Community Survey identifies median wages at different levels of education. When adjusted for inflation, the 2010 median wage in Oregon for those with just a high school diploma was about $12.53. Table 2 shows the median wages and employment projections for water treatment systems operators, and furnace operators, and selected occupations that include jobs profiled by Mike Rowe.

Table 2 shows several occupations that require short to moderate-term on-the-job training. This is the case for the metal refining furnace operators and tenders. Other dirty jobs like the sample-collecting veterinarian Mike Rowe profiled require postsecondary education or even advanced degrees. Dirty jobs like chimney sweeps have optional licensing through groups like the National Chimney Sweep Guild. Certification allows sweeps to indicate a level of proficiency in the services they are selling. Jobs like the water and liquid waste treatment system operator require mandatory certification through the state.

Completion of a related one-year certification or two-year associate degree program may help your chances of employment. Linn-Benton Community College and Clackamas Community College offer water treatment programs.

Although Table 2 indicates treatment system operators need a minimum of some postsecondary education, there are opportunities, such as entry-level operator positions, for those workers with just a high school diploma. Entry level operators are given a provisional certificate to work, and one year to complete testing for grade one certification. There are two different certificates for water treatment and liquid waste collection systems. It's not uncommon for system operators to have both certificates. Operators must also complete 20 hours of continued education units every two years. These classes keep operators up on best practices, advancements in methods, and safety. Table 3 shows the active certificates in Oregon. Advancement and promotion require further certification. Grade one certification requires one year of experience or education. The highest grade certification, grade four, requires as much as 10 years of on-the-job experience. With a combination of two or more years of related education, grade four may be reached after eight years.

The outlook for water and liquid waste treatment operators will depend on population growth, state economic growth, and the replacement of workers retiring or leaving the occupation. Population growth will increase demand for operators because of the eventual need to increase treatment capacity. The Oregon Employment Department projects that over the next 10 years water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operator job growth will be 10 percent, slightly higher than the state average. As the baby boomers continue toward retirement 268 of the 387 job openings will be due to replacement.

The projected outlook for the metal refining furnace operator or tender is less than the state average. Statewide employment is projected to decrease by 9.2 percent. Over the next 10 years, all of the 59 job openings will be due to replacements. This trend is largely due to economic recession reducing demands for finished metal goods, and the continued productivity advancements and automation of older production processes.

The open hearth furnaces Mark Miller worked around have been replaced by more efficient electric arc and basic oxygen furnaces. Whether it's furnace operation and tending, or production and machine operations further down the production line, those employees with the ability to set and tend multiple machines or handle growing computer-based tasks will find more employment opportunities.

As long as there is a plant to be operated, a product to be made, chemicals to be tended, crops to be grown, animals to be cared for, gears to be greased, or ditches to be dug, Oregon's economy will always depend on dirty jobs.