Move controls and turn valves to start compressor engines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment.

“Move controls and turn valves to start compressor engines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment.” is a core task performed by Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators. Among the occupation's 13 rated tasks, workers place it 9th by importance (#5 most important). About 100% 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.

• Operate pumping systems or equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes

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

• Monitor meters and pressure gauges to determine consumption rate variations, temperatures, and pressures. · importance 4.4
• Respond to problems by adjusting control room equipment or instructing other personnel to adjust equipment at problem locations or in other control areas. · importance 4.3
• Adjust valves and equipment to obtain specified performance. · importance 4.3
• Record instrument readings and operational changes in operating logs. · importance 4.3
• Operate power-driven pumps that transfer liquids, semi-liquids, gases, or powdered materials. · importance 4.1
• Submit daily reports on facility operations. · importance 4.0
• Take samples of gases and conduct chemical tests to determine gas quality and sulfur or moisture content, or send samples to laboratories for analysis. · importance 4.0
• Read gas meters, and maintain records of the amounts of gas received and dispensed from holders. · importance 4.0
• Turn knobs or switches to regulate pressures. · importance 3.8
• Clean, lubricate, and adjust equipment, and replace filters and gaskets, using hand tools. · importance 3.8
• Maintain each station by performing general housekeeping duties such as painting, washing, and cleaning. · importance 3.6
• Connect pipelines between pumps and containers that are being filled or emptied. · importance 3.2

See all tasks on the Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators 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-14601,
  title  = {Move controls and turn valves to start compressor engines, pumps, and auxiliary equipment.},
  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-14601}
}