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Date: 03/10/2025

Insulation Workers, Mechanical

Apply insulating materials to pipes or ductwork, or other mechanical systems in order to help control and maintain temperature.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Prepare surfaces for insulation application by brushing or spreading on adhesives, cement, or asphalt, or by attaching metal pins to surfaces.
    • Select appropriate insulation, such as fiberglass, Styrofoam, or cork, based on the heat retaining or excluding characteristics of the material.
    • Read blueprints and specifications to determine job requirements.
    • Apply, remove, and repair insulation on industrial equipment, pipes, ductwork, or other mechanical systems such as heat exchangers, tanks, and vessels, to help control noise and maintain temperatures.
    • Prepare surfaces for insulation application by brushing or spreading on adhesives, cement, or asphalt, or by attaching metal pins to surfaces.
    • Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, knives, and scissors.
    • Measure and cut insulation for covering surfaces, using tape measures, handsaws, knives, and scissors.
    • Determine the amounts and types of insulation needed, and methods of installation, based on factors such as location, surface shape, and equipment use.
    • Cover, seal, or finish insulated surfaces or access holes with plastic covers, canvas strips, sealants, tape, cement, or asphalt mastic.
    • Cover, seal, or finish insulated surfaces or access holes with plastic covers, canvas strips, sealants, tape, cement, or asphalt mastic.
    • Install sheet metal around insulated pipes with screws to protect the insulation from weather conditions or physical damage.
    • Fit insulation around obstructions, and shape insulating materials and protective coverings as required.

    Skills

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    3
    Workplace Documents
    4
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    Knowledge

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 68860/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 33.11/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 650
    • Yearly Projected Openings 50

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cooperation
    • Integrity
    • Dependability
    • Self Control
    • Initiative

    Tools

    • Adjustable widemouth pliers
    • Air compressors
    • Blow torch
    • Caulking guns
    • Chalk lines
    • Conduit benders
    • Desktop computers
    • Drop cloths
    • Filtering machinery
    • Hacksaw
    • Hazardous material protective apparel
    • Hole saws
    • Ladders
    • Metal cutters
    • Notebook computers
    • Pipe bending tools
    • Pipe or tube cutter
    • Power buffers
    • Power drills
    • Power saws
    • Protective coveralls
    • Respirators
    • Safety glasses
    • Saws
    • Scaffolding
    • Screwdrivers
    • Sewing machines
    • Shears
    • Staple guns
    • Tape measures
    • Thickness measuring devices
    • Tool template sets
    • Trowels
    • Utility knives
    • Wire lug crimping tool

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Project management software

    Tags

    • Apprenticeships are available for this occupation. These programs can help you get hands-on experience and build your skills.
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