CompGeo Gas Plant Operators Salary Survey Benchmark Job Description and Competencies - Utilities Occupation Group - Utilities

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Summary Job Description

Tasks

Control equipment, such as compressors, evaporators, heat exchangers, and refrigeration equipment to process gas for utility companies and for industrial use.

Monitor transportation and storage of flammable and other potentially dangerous products to ensure that safety guidelines are followed.

Monitor equipment functioning, observe temperature, level, and flow gauges, and perform regular unit checks, in order to ensure that all equipment is operating as it should.

Control operation of compressors, scrubbers, evaporators, and refrigeration equipment in order to liquefy, compress, or regasify natural gas.

Start and shut down plant equipment.

Record, review, and compile operations records, test results, and gauge readings such as temperatures, pressures, concentrations, and flows.

Adjust temperature, pressure, vacuum, level, flow rate, and/or transfer of gas to maintain processes at required levels or to correct problems.

Clean, maintain, and repair equipment, using hand tools, or request that repair and maintenance work be performed.

Collaborate with other operators to solve unit problems.

Determine causes of abnormal pressure variances, and make corrective recommendations, such as installation of pipes to relieve overloading.

Read logsheets to determine product demand and disposition, or to detect malfunctions.

Test gas, chemicals, and air during processing to assess factors such as purity and moisture content, and to detect quality problems or gas or chemical leaks.

Contact maintenance crews when necessary.

Change charts in recording meters.

Distribute or process gas for utility companies or industrial plants, using panel boards, control boards, and semi-automatic equipment.

Control equipment to regulate flow and pressure of gas to feedlines of boilers, furnaces, and related steam-generating or heating equipment.

Control fractioning columns, compressors, purifying towers, heat exchangers, and related equipment in order to extract nitrogen and oxygen from air.

Calculate gas ratios to detect deviations from specifications, using testing apparatus.

Signal or direct workers who tend auxiliary equipment.

Operate construction equipment to install and maintain gas distribution systems.

Control equipment, such as compressors, evaporators, heat exchangers, and refrigeration equipment to process gas for utility companies and for industrial use.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Important Knowledge Competencies

Competency Description

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Public Safety and Security

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Production and Processing

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Computers and Electronics

Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

English Language

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Mathematics

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Education and Training

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Physics

Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.

Chemistry

Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Important Skill Competencies

Competency Description

Operation Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Operation and Control

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Quality Control Analysis

Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

Complex Problem Solving

Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Judgment and Decision Making

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

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.

Writing

Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Troubleshooting

Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Equipment Maintenance

Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.

Repairing

Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.

Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

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.

Negotiation

Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Important Ability Competencies

Competency Description

Auditory Attention

The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.

Perceptual Speed

The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Control Precision

The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.

Reaction Time

The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.

Far Vision

The ability to see details at a distance.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Written Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Flexibility of Closure

The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.

Selective Attention

The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Information Ordering

The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

Hearing Sensitivity

The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Inductive Reasoning

The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Category Flexibility

The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

Visualization

The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.

Arm-Hand Steadiness

The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.

Finger Dexterity

The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.

Multilimb Coordination

The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.

Response Orientation

The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.

Speed of Closure

The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.

Time Sharing

The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).

Rate Control

The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.

Visual Color Discrimination

The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.

Depth Perception

The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.

Fluency of Ideas

The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

Manual Dexterity

The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Prerequisite Qualification Category

Education and Experience Level

Required Level of Education

High School Diploma (or GED or High School Equivalence Certificate)

Required Level of Education

Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in Personnel Services, Engineering-related Technologies, Vocational Home Economics, Construction Trades, Mechanics and Repairers, Precision Production Trades)

On-the-Job Training

Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

Related Work Experience

Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

Alternate Job Title(s)

Compressor Station Operator

Dispatcher

Engine Room Operator

Field Gauger

Fuel Attendant

Gas Controller

Gas Dispatcher

Gas Distribution Plant Operator

Gas Maker

Gas Operator

Gas Plant Dispatcher

Gas Plant Operator

Gas Plant Technician

Gas Processing Plant Operator

Gas Producer

Gas System Operator

Gas Treater

Gauger

High Pressure Operator

Liquefaction Plant Operator

Liquefaction and Regasification Plant Operator

Liquid Natural Gas Plant Operator (LNG Plant Operator)

Liquified Natural Gas Specialist (LNG Specialist)

Liquified Natural Gas Technician (LNG Technician)

Load Dispatcher

Natural Gas Plant Technician

Operation Specialist

Oxygen Plant Operator

Plant Operator

Pressure Controller

Pressure Dispatcher

Process Plant Operator

Regasification Plant Operator

Tank Terminal Gauger

Terminal Gauger

Water Gas Operator

CompGeo Occupation Group: Utilities

Job Family: Utilities - Other

Benchmark Title: Gas Plant Operators

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CompGeo Salary Survey Benchmark Job Summary and Competencies

Gas Plant Operators

Gas Plant Operators

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