Remove worn, damaged or outdated materials from work areas.

Remove worn, damaged or outdated materials from work areas. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 14 occupations and seen in 15 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Dispose of waste or debris. in Performing General Physical Activities .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 15 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Remove old roofing materials. · Helpers--Roofers · importance 4.1 · no direct exposure
• Remove and replace cracked or damaged tile. · Tile and Stone Setters · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Cut and remove broken glass prior to installing replacement glass. · Glaziers · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Remove damaged or defective parts or sections of structures and repair or replace, using hand tools. · Carpenters · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Remove any old tile, grout and adhesive using chisels and scrapers and clean the surface carefully. · Tile and Stone Setters · importance 3.9 · no direct exposure
• Remove old paper, using water, steam machines, or solvents and scrapers. · Paperhangers · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Move furniture from area to be carpeted and remove old carpet and padding. · Carpet Installers · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Disassemble and remove damaged or worn pipe. · Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters · importance 3.6 · no direct exposure
• Remove damaged tile, brick, or mortar, and clean or prepare surfaces, using pliers, hammers, chisels, drills, wire brushes, or metal wire anchors. · Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters · importance 3.5 · no direct exposure
• Raze buildings or salvage useful materials. · Construction Laborers · importance 3.5 · no direct exposure
• Remove old insulation, such as asbestos, following safety procedures. · Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall · importance 3.4 · no direct exposure
• Remove existing plaster, drywall, or paneling, using crowbars and hammers. · Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers · importance 3.4 · no direct exposure
• Cut damaged sections of pipe with cutters, remove broken sections from ditches, and replace pipe sections, using pipe sleeves. · Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners · importance 3.4 · no direct exposure
• Disconnect and remove appliances, light fixtures, and worn floor and wall covering from floors, walls, and cabinets. · Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles · importance 3.3 · no direct exposure
• Remove burned or damaged brick or mortar, using sledgehammer, crowbar, chipping gun, or chisel. · Brickmasons and Blockmasons · importance 3.1 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Helpers--Roofers
• Tile and Stone Setters
• Glaziers
• Carpenters
• Paperhangers
• Carpet Installers
• Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
• Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters
• Construction Laborers
• Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall
• Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
• Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
• Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles
• Brickmasons and Blockmasons

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-remove-worn-damaged-or-outdated-materials-from-work-areas,
  title  = {Remove worn, damaged or outdated materials from work areas.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/remove-worn-damaged-or-outdated-materials-from-work-areas}
}