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Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers

ANZSCO ID 711515

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Overview

Snapshot

Employed
840
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
86%
Female Share
7%
Average age
42
About this data

Summary

Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers operate machines to apply gelcoat, colouring and fibre reinforced plastic to moulds, in order to produce fibreglass and laminated products.

Specialisations: Fibreglass Gun Hand, Fibreglass Laminator, Resin Transfer Moulding Machine Operator.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Worker. Although some workers have a certificate II or III in polymer processing.

Tasks

  • Operates controls to regulate temperature, pressure, speed and flow of operation.

  • Measures and loads materials, items and ingredients for mixing into machines and feeding mechanisms.

  • Monitors operation, regulates material supply and adds chemicals and colorants to mixture.

  • Threads uncoated wire and cable through plastic coating machines, around take-up reels and through dies and cooling chambers.

  • Lays casings, beads, ply and rubber sheets on moulds.

  • Operates rollers to remove air.

  • Operates vulcaniser presses and controls curing.

  • Examines output for defects and conformity to specifications.

  • Performs minor repairs and maintains production records.

Characteristics

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Plastics and Rubber Production Machine Operators, under the outlook section.

Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • This data has been supressed due to the low numbers employed at the time of the ABS, 2016 Census.

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.

Industries

Main industries

1
Manufacturing
59.7%
2
Construction
8.1%
3
Other Services
3.9%
4
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
2.0%
5
Other industries
4.0%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

25.3% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

22.7% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

26.8% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

7.9% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

10.9% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

5.7% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

0.8% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

0.0% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers All Jobs Average
NSW 25.3 31.6
VIC 22.7 25.6
QLD 26.8 20.0
SA 7.9 7.0
WA 10.9 10.8
TAS 5.7 2.0
NT 0.8 1.0
ACT 0.0 1.9


  • Around 55% of Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers live outside of capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 38%.

    Queensland and Tasmania have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    The region with the largest share of workers is Gold Coast.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
42
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
7%
All Jobs Average is 48%

  • The median age of Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers is 42 years. This is similar to the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 45 to 54 years.

    Females make up 7% of the workforce. This is 41 percentage points below the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers All Jobs Average
15-19 3.3 5.0
20-24 11.1 9.3
25-34 19.5 22.9
35-44 20.5 22.0
45-54 23.7 21.6
55-59 11.1 9.0
60-64 6.4 6.0
65 and Over 4.4 4.2
Median Age 42 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.

Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Worker. Although some workers have a certificate II or III in polymer processing.

Visit

  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Plastics, Rubber & Cablemaking VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Reinforced Plastic and Composite Production Workers All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 0.6 10.1
Bachelor degree 1.9 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 2.0 11.6
Certificate III/IV 28.8 21.1
Year 12 21.2 18.1
Year 11 9.8 4.8
Year 10 and below 35.7 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.

Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Plastics and Rubber Production Machine Operators who are hardworking, can work well with others and are reliable.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 45%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 43%

    Quality control analysis

    Doing tests and checking products, services, or processes to make sure they are working properly.

  • 41%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 41%

    Operation monitoring

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

  • 41%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 41%

    Operation and control

    Controlling equipment or systems.

  • 39%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 39%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 39%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 39%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 39%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 39%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 39%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 36%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 36%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 36%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 34%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 34%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 34%

    Negotiation

    Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.

  • 30%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 51%

    Chemistry

    Chemical composition, structure, and properties. How chemicals are made, used, mixed, and can change.

  • 45%

    Production and processing

    Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.

  • 45%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 44%

    Mechanical

    Machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

  • 41%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 38%

    Engineering and technology

    Use engineering, science and technology to design and produce goods and services.

  • 37%

    English language

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

  • 34%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 33%

    Technical design

    Design techniques, tools, and principles used to make detailed technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

  • 31%

    Building and construction

    Materials, and methods used to construct or repair houses, buildings, or other structures like highways and roads.

  • 31%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 30%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 21%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 21%

    Physics

    The physical laws of matter, motion and energy, and how they interact through space and time.

  • 21%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 21%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 20%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 19%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.

  • 16%

    Foreign language

    Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

  • 16%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 52%

    Multilimb coordination

    Use your arms and/or legs at the same time while sitting, standing, or lying down.

  • 50%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.

  • 48%

    Arm-hand steadiness

    Keep your hand or arm steady.

  • 48%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 48%

    Manual dexterity

    Quickly move your hand to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

  • 48%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 48%

    Extent flexibility

    Bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.

  • 46%

    Static strength

    Lift, push, pull, or carry things.

  • 45%

    Control precision

    Quickly change the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

  • 45%

    Finger dexterity

    Put together small parts with your fingers.

  • 45%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 45%

    Trunk strength

    Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

  • 45%

    Auditory attention

    Pay attention to a certain sound when there are other distracting sounds.

  • 45%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 45%

    Colour discrimination

    Notice differences between colours, including shades of colour and brightness.

  • 45%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 43%

    Perceptual speed

    Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

  • 43%

    Depth perception

    Decide which thing is closer or further away from you, or decide how far away it is.

  • 41%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 41%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 87%

    Handling and moving objects

    Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, moving and manipulating objects.

  • 77%

    Doing physically active work

    Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.

  • 71%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 69%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 66%

    Controlling equipment or machines

    Operating machines or processes either directly or using controls (not including computers or vehicles).

  • 66%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 65%

    Checking compliance with standards

    Deciding whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

  • 64%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 62%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 60%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 60%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 60%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 58%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 58%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 57%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 57%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 55%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 54%

    Coaching and developing others

    Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.

  • 49%

    Checking for errors or defects

    Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials for errors, problems or defects.

  • 44%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 100%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 76%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 52%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

  • 29%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 19%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 14%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.

  • 67%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 62%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 38%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

  • 38%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 33%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 33%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:

  • 98%

    Wear common protective or safety equipment

    Wear equipment like safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hard hats or life jackets.

  • 94%

    Using your hands to handle, control, or feel

    Spend time using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools or controls.

  • 93%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 90%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 89%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 88%

    Exposure to contaminants

    Be exposed to pollutants, gases, dust or odours.

  • 86%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 83%

    Making repetitive motions

    Spend time making repetitive motions.

  • 81%

    Dangerous conditions

    Work near dangers like high voltage electricity, flammable material, explosives or chemicals.

  • 81%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 80%

    Loud or uncomfortable sounds

    Be exposed to noises and sounds that are distracting or uncomfortable.

  • 77%

    Health and safety of others

    Take responsibility for the health and safety of others.

  • 77%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 77%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 76%

    Indoors, not heat controlled

    Work indoors without heating or cooling (e.g., warehouse without heat).

  • 72%

    Wear specialized protective or safety equipment

    Wear equipment like breathing apparatus, safety harness, full protection suits, or radiation protection.

  • 71%

    Bending or twisting your body

    Spend time bending or twisting your body.

  • 71%

    Responsible for outcomes

    Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.

  • 70%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 68%

    Very hot or cold temperatures

    Work in very hot or cold temperatures.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 51-2091.00 - Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators.

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