Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and work areas.

“Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and work areas.” is a core task performed by Maintenance Workers, Machinery. Among the occupation's 18 rated tasks, workers place it 7th by importance (#12 most important). About 99% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. in Performing General Physical Activities

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T0.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Dismantle machines and remove parts for repair, using hand tools, chain falls, jacks, cranes, or hoists. · importance 4.1
• Reassemble machines after the completion of repair or maintenance work. · importance 4.1
• Record production, repair, and machine maintenance information. · importance 4.1
• Lubricate or apply adhesives or other materials to machines, machine parts, or other equipment according to specified procedures. · importance 4.0
• Install, replace, or change machine parts and attachments, according to production specifications. · importance 4.0
• Set up and operate machines, and adjust controls to regulate operations. · importance 4.0
• Collaborate with other workers to repair or move machines, machine parts, or equipment. · importance 4.0
• Read work orders and specifications to determine machines and equipment requiring repair or maintenance. · importance 4.0
• Inspect or test damaged machine parts, and mark defective areas or advise supervisors of repair needs. · importance 4.0
• Start machines and observe mechanical operation to determine efficiency and to detect problems. · importance 3.9
• Transport machine parts, tools, equipment, and other material between work areas and storage, using cranes, hoists, or dollies. · importance 3.8
• Inventory and requisition machine parts, equipment, and other supplies so that stock can be maintained and replenished. · importance 3.8
• Remove hardened material from machines or machine parts, using abrasives, power and hand tools, jackhammers, sledgehammers, or other equipment. · importance 3.8
• Replace, empty, or replenish machine and equipment containers such as gas tanks or boxes. · importance 3.6

See all tasks on the Maintenance Workers, Machinery page.

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-task-11840,
  title  = {Collect and discard worn machine parts and other refuse to maintain machinery and 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/tasks/task-11840}
}