Plant Operator

Airgas•Rockford, IL

20h•Onsite

About The Position

The Plant Operator supports the team by safely operating equipment for the handling and production of packaged gas cylinders, both for high pressure and liquefied gasses. This role involves loading and unloading gas cylinders and/or other products onto and off of route trucks and trailers, moving cylinders with proper carts. The operator sorts empty cylinders by type for organized workflow, rolls cylinders, and operates a forklift truck for cylinder movement on pallets. They develop an understanding of the hazards of various gases, cylinder sizes, and contents by interpreting labels and color-coding. Responsibilities also include accurately labeling cylinders, safely handling high-pressure, medical, and liquid cylinders, and preparing high-pressure cylinders and cryogenic vessels for filling by attaching them to manifolds and evacuating contaminants. The operator contributes to basic cylinder maintenance like painting and labeling, and cleans the work area. They inspect cylinders before filling, conduct safety checks (odor tests, caps, valves), and fill cylinders by pressure and weight according to regulations. The role also involves checking cylinder quantities, styles, and products, assisting with inventory, coordinating documentation to DOT, FDA, OSHA, and Airgas standards, and completing quality control sheets. The operator must uphold all government and company standards for safe handling of hazardous materials/cylinder gases.

Requirements

HS Diploma or equivalent preferred.
Ability to read and comprehend material safety data sheets to maintain a secure environment.
Comfortable with basic calculations (adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing) in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percentages.
Ability to safely operate a forklift (training may be provided).
Physical dexterity to navigate the plant floor: includes walking, sitting, and using hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reaching, stooping, kneeling, or crouching as needed.
Specific vision abilities to ensure safety: including close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus on objects.
Regularly utilizes physical coordination to stand, bend, stoop, reach, and grasp; ability to communicate and hear effectively within the facility.
Sensory awareness to detect environmental cues, such as smelling or hearing gas to ensure site safety.
Occasionally required to move through the facility, use hands for fine motor tasks or computer entry, and reach with hands and arms.
Capacity to regularly lift and/or move up to 60 pounds and move up to 800 pounds with the assistance of material handling equipment.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a manufacturing operation; filling or loading experience is a plus.
Familiarity with the gas, welding, and safety supply industry or chemical industry is valued.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills to ensure team alignment.
Enjoys collaborating with a wide variety of people with different perspectives and backgrounds.
Supportive customer service skills.
Self-motivated and able to contribute effectively in a fast-paced environment to meet shared deadlines.
High level of attention to detail and precision.

Responsibilities

Safely operating equipment for the handling and production of packaged gas cylinders, both for high pressure and liquefied gasses.
Loading and unloading gas cylinders and/or other products onto and off of route trucks and trailers moving cylinders with proper carts only.
Sorting empty cylinders by type to ensure an organized workflow.
Rolling cylinders and operating a forklift truck for the movement of cylinders on pallets.
Developing an understanding of hazards of various gases; size and contents of cylinders by reading and interpreting cylinder labels and the color-coding of tanks.
Accurately labeling cylinders.
Safely caring for high-pressure, medical and liquid cylinders.
Preparing high pressure cylinders and cryogenic vessels for filling.
Attaching to manifold, evacuating cylinders to eliminate all possible contaminants.
Contributing to basic cylinder maintenance such as painting cylinders, labeling cylinders, and the cleaning of the work area.
Inspecting cylinders prior to filling, following standard procedures as required by government, Airgas, and distributor standards.
Conducting a variety of safety checks per procedures, such as odor tests, checking caps and valves.
Filling cylinders by pressure and weight, per regulations and standards.
Checking for cylinder quantities, styles and product, and/or assisting the team with inventory.
Coordinating documentation to DOT, FDA, OSHA, and Airgas standards.
Completing quality control sheets as required.
Upholding all government and company standards relating to the safe handling of hazardous materials/cylinder gases.