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- Cut and join metal to make products and components
- You'll need practical skills, maths skills, basic IT skills
- You could be a site supervisor or become an engineering technician
As a sheet metal worker, you'll make metal products from flat sheets like ducting, pipes, panels and storage tanks. You could be working with anything from aluminium sheets for street signs to steel panels for car bodies.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Marking out sections
- Following engineering drawings and instructions
- Shaping and cutting out sections using hand tools and Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines, like laser cutters, presses and rollers
- Finishing items with grinders and polishers
- Assembling sections using riveting
- Welding and bolting methods
- In heavy industry, where you might be known as a plater, you could build structures like ship hulls or drilling platforms using thicker metal plate
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
Most of your time will be spent in a workshop or factory where conditions can be noisy, hot and dirty. You'll wear protective clothing and equipment. You may work long periods without supervision as part of a production team. Some jobs will involve working at height.
You'll need
For this role you'll need practical skills, maths skills, and basic IT skills.
There are no set entry requirements for this role. Experience or a college qualification in engineering will be helpful.
You'll also need a Client Contractor National Safety Group (CCNSG) Safety Passport to work on most engineering construction sites.
You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could be promoted to site supervisor or foreperson, then into middle management. You could also become an engineering technician with further training or move into welding.