Stone Processing Machine Operator
What the work is
Operates machines to cut and finish stones for tiles, building blocks and facings.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Sets up and prepares machines for stone cutting and finishing
- Measures and marks stones according to specifications
- Loads and unloads stones into machines
- Operates and monitors machines to ensure stones are cut accurately and efficiently
- Inspects finished stones for quality and makes adjustments to machines as needed
- Uses hand tools to finish and polish stones
- Cleans and maintains machines to ensure proper functioning
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the sterile services department of a fictional regional hospital, plus a stone benchtop workshop in the same town. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- Every tray goes out to theatre complete, clean and checked, with time to spare
- A slab of stone is cut so cleanly that the join between two pieces is hard to see
- A busy day ends with nothing missing and the whole team sitting down for lunch
Hard days
- An urgent request arrives for something that cannot be made safe any faster
- Hours standing, wearing protective gear, in a warm and noisy room
- A counted set that comes back with something missing and no obvious reason
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 731938, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.