Glass and ceramics plant operators

Glass and ceramics plant operators operate and monitor kilns, furnaces and other machinery and equipment used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, porcelain, tiles or bricks. They operate machines to anneal, harden or decorate glass and ceramics.

Role Responsibilities

• Operating and monitoring glass-making furnaces to make glass by melting and fusing pre-mixed ingredients
• Tending hot- or cold-end spray equipment used to coat glassware with surface hardener
• Operating and maintaining machines that press or blow molten glass into moulds to form or shape containers such as bottles, jars and drinking glasses
• Operating hand presses to mould glass into required shape
• Operating drawing kilns to process molten glass into continuous sheets of flat glass
• Operating and monitoring floating-glass production plants
• Operating and maintaining finishing machines to grind, drill, sand, bevel, decorate, wash or polish glass or glass products
• Setting and operating press machines to mould ceramic articles from moist clay
• Operating machines to mix clay with water to knead it into a suitable plastic condition or semi-liquid form for making ceramic products
• Operating and monitoring kilns which bake pottery, porcelain ware, bricks and tiles
• Operating and monitoring machines for making glaze or abrasives
• Operating and monitoring machines which extrude molten glass to form fibreglass filaments
• Observing finished products to identify splits, cracks, breaks, colour and other imperfections