DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA
37-2021 Pest Control Workers
Occupational Description:
Apply or release chemical solutions or toxic gases and set traps to kill or remove pests and vermin that infest buildings and surrounding areas. | Percentiles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | Employment | Emp SE* | Mean | Mean SE* | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
| Minnesota | 260 | 58 | $18.81/hr | $1.19/hr | $10.47/hr | $13.58/hr | $18.23/hr | $23.33/hr | $28.35/hr |
| U S | 61,380 | 982 | $15.66/hr | $0.14/hr | $9.50/hr | $11.98/hr | $14.62/hr | $18.60/hr | $23.25/hr |
| *SE = Standard error, a measure of the statistical reliability of the estimate. | |||||||||
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| Occupation (click title for details) | OES | Projections | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | Median Wage | % Change 2010 - 2020 | |
| Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers | 2,890 | $11.93/hr | 5.5% |
| Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 1,200 | $14.78/hr | 16.2% |
| Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation | 1,150 | $15.70/hr | 10.3% |
Tasks for Pest Control Workers
- Sprays or dusts chemical solutions, powders, or gases into rooms, onto clothing, furnishings or wood, and over marshlands, ditches, catch-basins.
- Sets mechanical traps and places poisonous paste or bait in sewers, burrows, and ditches.
- Cuts or bores openings in building or surrounding concrete, accesses infested areas, inserts nozzle, and injects pesticide to impregnate ground.
- Directs and/or assists other workers in treatment and extermination processes to eliminate and control rodents, insects, and weeds.
- Studies preliminary reports and diagrams of infested area and determines treatment type required to eliminate and prevent recurrence of infestation.
- Digs up and burns or sprays weeds with herbicides.
- Cleans work site after completion of job.
- Records work activities performed.
- Drives truck equipped with power spraying equipment.
- Posts warning signs and locks building doors to secure area to be fumigated.
- Positions and fastens edges of tarpaulins over building and tapes vents to ensure air-tight environment and checks for leaks.
- Cleans and removes blockages from infested areas to facilitate spraying procedure and provide drainage, using broom, mop, shovel, and rake.
- Measures area dimensions requiring treatment, using rule, calculates fumigant requirements, and estimates cost for service.
- Inspects premises to identify infestation source and extent of damage to property, wall, and roof porosity, and access to infested locations.