Science technicians work under a wide variety of conditions. Most work indoors, usually in laboratories, and have regular hours. Some occasionally work irregular hours to monitor experiments that cannot be completed during regular working hours. Production technicians often work in 8-hour shifts around the clock. Others, such as agricultural, forest and conservation, geological and petroleum, and environmental science and protection technicians, perform much of their work outdoors, sometimes in remote locations.
Some science technicians may be exposed to hazards from equipment, chemicals, or toxic materials. Chemical technicians sometimes work with toxic chemicals or radioactive isotopes, nuclear technicians may be exposed to radiation, and biological technicians sometimes work with disease-causing organisms or radioactive agents. Forensic science technicians often are exposed to human body fluids and firearms. However, these working conditions pose little risk if proper safety procedures are followed. For forensic science technicians, collecting evidence from crime scenes can be distressing and unpleasant.
| How often do you have to perform public speaking in this job? |
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| How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? |
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| How often do you use electronic mail in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(47.0200%) | |
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| How often does the job require written letters and memos? |
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| | | | | | | | Once a week or more but not every day
(53.8200%) | |
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| How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
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| How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
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| | | | | | | | | Constant contact with others
(55.6200%) |
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| How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(57.9500%) |
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| How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job? |
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| How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? |
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| How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job? |
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| | | | | | Limited responsibility
(37.3100%) | | | |
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| How responsible is the worker for work outcomes and results of other workers? |
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| | | | | | | | | Very high responsibility
(27.0900%) |
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| How often are there conflict situations the employee has to face in this job? |
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| | | | | | Once a year or more but not every month
(37.9700%) | | | |
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| How frequently does the worker have to deal with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous individuals as part of the job requirements? |
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| | | | | | Once a year or more but not every month
(61.0600%) | | | |
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| How frequently does this job require the worker to deal with physical aggression of violent individuals? |
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| How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? |
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| How often does this job require working indoors in non-controlled environmental conditions (e.g., warehouse without heat)? |
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| How often does this job require working outdoors, exposed to all weather conditions? |
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| How often does this job require working outdoors, under cover (e.g., structure with roof but no walls)? |
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| How often does this job require working in an open vehicle or equipment (e.g., tractor)? |
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| How often does this job require working in a closed vehicle or equipment (e.g., car)? |
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| To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? |
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| | | | | | | | Moderately close (at arm's length)
(49.7900%) | |
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| How often does this job require working exposed to sounds and noise levels that are distracting or uncomfortable? |
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| How often does this job require working in very hot (above 90 F degrees) or very cold (below 32 F degrees) temperatures? |
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| How often does this job require working in extremely bright or inadequate lighting conditions? |
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| How often does this job require working exposed to contaminants (such as pollutants, gases, dust or odors)? |
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| | | | | | | Once a month or more but not every week
(36.6500%) | | |
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| How often does this job require working in cramped work spaces that requires getting into awkward positions? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to whole body vibration (e.g., operate a jackhammer)? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to radiation? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to disease/infections? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to high places? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to hazardous conditions? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to hazardous equipment? |
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| How often does this job require exposure to minor burns, cuts, bites, or stings? |
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| How much does this job require sitting? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(64.8000%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require standing? |
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| | | | | | | | | Continually or almost continually
(30.8400%) |
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| How much does this job require climbing ladders, scaffolds, or poles? |
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| How much does this job require walking and running? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(35.9700%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require kneeling, crouching, stooping or crawling? |
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| How much does this job require keeping or regaining your balance? |
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| How much does this job require using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls? |
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| | | | | | | | More than half the time
(47.9900%) | |
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| How much does this job require bending or twisting your body? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(62.8300%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require making repetitive motions? |
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| | | | | | Less than half the time
(51.1000%) | | | |
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| How much does this job require wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets? |
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| How much does this job require wearing specialized protective or safety equipment such as breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suits, or radiation protection? |
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| How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable? |
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| How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
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| | | | | | | | Important results
(38.5400%) | |
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| How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? |
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| | | | | | | Once a month or more but not every week
(43.0800%) | | |
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| How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
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| | | | | | | | | A lot of freedom
(59.4900%) |
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| How automated is the job? |
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| | | | | | | Moderately automated
(30.8300%) | | |
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| How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(60.7800%) |
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| How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? |
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| | | | | | | | | Extremely important
(34.8200%) |
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| To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
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| To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures? |
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| | | | | | Slightly competitive
(42.7700%) | | | |
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| How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? |
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| How important is it to this job that the pace is determined by the speed of equipment or machinery? (This does not refer to keeping busy at all times on this job.) |
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| How regular are the work schedules for this job? |
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| | | Regular (established routine, set schedule)
(74.0500%) | | |
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| Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
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| | | | | More than 40 hours
(56.0100%) |
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4.45
4.43
4.35
4.32
4.09
3.94
3.93
3.74
3.69
3.66
3.63
3.62
3.57
3.41
3.10
3.62
3.25
3.20
3.12
3.00
2.91
2.87
2.75
2.70
2.62
2.50
2.34
1.75
1.62