Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.

“Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.” is a core task performed by Transportation Security Screeners. Among the occupation's 26 rated tasks, workers place it 18th by importance (#9 most important). About 74% 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.

• Determine operational methods or procedures. in Making Decisions and Solving Problems

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

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 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation. · importance 4.9
• Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons. · importance 4.8
• View images of checked bags and cargo, using remote screening equipment, and alert baggage screeners or handlers to any possible problems. · importance 4.7
• Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification. · importance 4.7
• Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems. · importance 4.7
• Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches. · importance 4.7
• Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur. · importance 4.6
• Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment. · importance 4.6
• Locate suspicious bags pictured in printouts sent from remote monitoring areas, and set these bags aside for inspection. · importance 4.6
• Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them. · importance 4.6
• Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives. · importance 4.5
• Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering. · importance 4.4
• Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors. · importance 4.4
• Close entry areas following security breaches or reopen areas after receiving notification that the airport is secure. · importance 4.3

See all tasks on the Transportation Security Screeners 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-15337,
  title  = {Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.},
  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-15337}
}