Fish production operator

Fish production operators regulate and supervise fish product manufacturing facilities. They keep stock of all required ingredients and equipment for mass manufacturing. They also perform processes such as moulding, breading, frying, freezing, setting the system’s temperature and checking speeds.

The following job titles also refer to fish production operator:

fish products production operative
fish products manufacture specialist
fish products operator
fish production worker

No formal educational credential is generally required to work as a fish production operator.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Fish production operator is a Skill level 2 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to fish production operator.

fish trimmer
fish canning operator
fish preparation operator
blender operator
fruit and vegetable canner

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of fish production operator. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of fish production operator with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

green coffee coordinator
animal feed supervisor
water treatment systems operator
dairy processing technician
food technician

These skills are necessary for the role of fish production operator.

• Maintain cutting equipment: Maintenance of the cutting equipment (knives, cutters, and other elements).
• Tolerate strong smells: Tolerate strong smells expelled by the goods being processed during the production of goods.
• Comply with food safety and hygiene: Respect optimal food safety and hygiene during preparation, manufacturing, processing, storage, distribution and delivery of food products.
• Slice fish: Cut fish or fish parts into fillets and smaller pieces.
• Ensure refrigeration of food in the supply chain: Apply different procedures to maintain the chain of temperature of foodstuffs and products in each stage of the production and supply chain.
• Manage health and safety standards: Oversee all personnel and processes to comply with health, safety and hygiene standards. Communicate and support alignment of these requirements with the company’s health and safety programmes.
• Clean food and beverage machinery: Clean machinery used for food or beverage production processes. Prepare the appropriate solutions for cleaning. Prepare all parts and assure that they are clean enough to avoid deviation or errors in the production process.
• Apply HACCP: Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP).
• Check quality of products on the production line: Check products for quality on the production line and remove defective items before and after packaging.
• Be at ease in unsafe environments: Be at ease in unsafe environments like being exposed to dust, rotating equipment, hot surfaces, sub-freezing and cold storage areas, noise, wet floors and moving lift equipment.
• Execute chilling processes to food products: Carry out chilling, freezing and cooling operation processes to food products such as fruit and vegetables, fish, meat, catering food. Prepare food products for extended periods of storage or half prepared food. Ensure safety and nutrition qualities of frozen goods and preserve products in accordance with specified temperatures.
• Operate fish processing equipment: Operate equipment for canning, drying, freezing, smoking, high pressure processing of fish, or other types of processing of fish following established procedures.
• Work according to recipe: Perform tasks in food preparation according to recipe or specification in order to preserve the quality of ingredients and to ensure replication accuracy of the recipe. Select the appropriate materials to follow the recipe, taking into account the current situation.
• Remove parts of fish: Remove guts, heads and tails for fish and seafood production.
• Adhere to organisational guidelines: Adhere to organisational or department specific standards and guidelines. Understand the motives of the organisation and the common agreements and act accordingly.
• Lift heavy weights: Lift heavy weights and apply ergonomic lifting techniques to avoid damaging the body.
• Operate chainsaw: Operate mechanical chainsaw powered by electricity, compressed air or gasoline.
• Apply requirements concerning manufacturing of food and beverages: Apply and follow national, international, and internal requirements quoted in standards, regulations and other specifications related with manufacturing of food and beverages.
• Apply GMP: Apply regulations regarding manufacture of food and food safety compliance. Employ food safety procedures based on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
• Use food cutting tools: Trim, peel and slice products with knives, paring or food cutting tools or equipment according to guidelines.
• Package fish: Package fish in specified containers and compartments after preparing and trimming the fish. Prepare the fish to be shipped, and further treated in the supply chain.
• Wash gutted fish: Wash gutted fish in cold water, rinse it, brush it in a machine, or apply a combination of these techniques.
• Monitor freezing processes: Monitoring freezing processes to ensure product is adequately frozen. Assessing temperature levels and ensuring energy efficiency and product refrigeration.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of fish production operator. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Legislation about animal origin products: The applicable legal rules on temperature, waste materials, traceability, labelling, trading, and the transport of animal origin products.
• Food canning production line: Steps in the canning process line from washing, conditioning and weighing food products, washing and preparing cans, filling cans, as well as other operations in order to obtain the end product.
• Health, safety and hygiene legislation: The set of health, safety and hygiene standards and items of legislation applicable in a specific sector.
• Biotechnology: The technology that uses, modifies or harnesses biological systems, organisms and cellular components to develop new technologies and products for specific uses.
• Pathogenic microorganisms in food: The identification and characteristics of pathogenic micro-organisms in food and the adequate prevention methods to inhibit its reproduction in food materials.
• Food dehydration processes: The processes by which fruit and vegetables are dehydrated including techniques such as sun drying, indoor drying, and industrial applications for drying food. The dehydration process goes from selection of the fruit and vegetables according to their size, washing the fruit, classifying according to the product, storage, and mixing with ingredients resulting in a final product.
• Animal anatomy for food production: The anatomy of animals, their organs and their functions, as well as the usage of these organs for food production after slaughtering.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of fish production operator. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Ensure sanitation: Keep workspaces and equipment free from dirt, infection, and disease by removing waste, trash and providing for appropriate cleaning.
• Care for food aesthetic: Convey presentation and aesthetic elements into the production of food. Cut products properly, manage right quantities into the product, care for the attractiveness of the product.
• Preserve fish products: Place and classify fish products for proper conservation. Maintain suitable conditions for the conservation of fishery products.
• Lead a team: Lead, supervise and motivate a group of people, in order to meet the expected results within a given timeline and with the foreseen resources in mind.
• Set up equipment for food production: Set up machinery and equipment for food production. Make sure that controls, settings, and input requirements are according to the required standards.
• Operate forklift: Operate a forklift, a vehicle with a pronged device in front for lifting and carrying heavy loads.
• Mark differences in colours: Identify differences between colours, such as shades of colour.
• Keep inventory of goods in production: Keep inventory of goods whether they are goods in the front end (i.e. raw materials), intermediate, or back end (i.e. finished products). Count goods and store them for the following production and distribution activities.
• Administer ingredients in food production: ngredients to be added and the required amounts according to the recipe and the way those ingredients are to be administered.
• Blend food ingredients: Blend, mix or cultivate ingredients to make reagents or to manufacture food or beverage products and to carry the analysis that goes along with it.
• Liaise with colleagues: Liaise with fellow colleagues to ensure common understanding on work related affairs and agree on the necessary compromises the parties might need to face. Negotiate compromises between parties as to ensure that work in general run efficiently towards the achievement of the objectives.
• Follow hygienic procedures during food processing: Ensure a clean working space according to hygienic standards in the food processing industry.
• Adapt efficient food processing practices: Ensure to adapt the most efficient production techniques to accomplish food processing tasks with the least amount of time, effort and costs.
• Have computer literacy: Utilise computers, IT equipment and modern day technology in an efficient way.
• Dispose food waste: Dispose or collect food waste with the purpose of recycling or throwing away from the production process. Follow established procedures for their disposal taking care of the environment and the safety matters according to legislations.
• Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
• Exert quality control to processing food: Ensure the quality of all factors involved in a food production process.
• Ensure compliance with environmental legislation in food production: Make sure to comply with environmental legislation in food production. Understand the legislation related to environmental matters in food manufacturing and apply it in practice.
• Label samples: Label raw material/ product samples for laboratory checks, according to implemented quality system.

8160 – Food and related products machine operators

References

1. Fish production operator – ESCO