Bettencourt Pest Control Inc

Landscape architects plan and design land areas for parks, recreational facilities, highways, airports, and other properties. Projects may include subdivisions and commercial, industrial, and residential sites.

Landscape architects typically do the following:

• Confer with clients, engineers, and building architects to understand a project
• Prepare site plans, specifications, and cost estimates
• Coordinate the arrangement of existing and proposed land features and structures
• Prepare graphic representations and drawings of proposed plans and designs
• Analyze environmental reports and data on land conditions, such as drainage
• Inspect landscape work to ensure that it adheres to original plans
• Approve the quality of work that others do
• Seek new work through marketing or by giving presentations

People enjoy attractively designed gardens, public parks, playgrounds, residential areas, college campuses, and golf courses. Landscape architects design these areas so that they are not only functional but also beautiful and harmonious with the natural environment.

Landscape architects plan the locations of buildings, roads, and walkways. They also plan where to plant flowers, shrubs, and trees. Landscape architects design and plan the restoration of natural places disturbed by humans, such as wetlands, stream corridors, and mined areas.

Many landscape architects specialize in a particular area, such as beautifying or otherwise improving streets and highways, waterfronts, parks and playgrounds, or shopping centers.

Increasingly, landscape architects are working in environmental remediation, such as preserving and restoring wetlands or managing storm-water runoff in new developments. They are also increasingly playing a role in preserving and restoring historic landscapes.

Landscape architects who work for government agencies do design sites and landscapes for government buildings, parks, and other public lands, as well as plan for landscapes and recreation areas in national parks and forests.

In addition, they prepare environmental impact statements and studies on environmental issues, such as planning for use of public lands.

Pest control workers control, manage, or remove unwanted creatures, such as roaches, rats, ants, termites, and bedbugs, that infest buildings and surrounding areas. 

Pest control workers typically do the following:

• Inspect buildings and premises for signs of pests or infestation
• Determine the type of treatment needed to eliminate pests
• Measure the dimensions of the area needing treatment
• Estimate the cost of their services
• Set bait and traps to remove or kill pests
• Spray or dust pesticides into rooms
• Design and carry out pest management plans
• Drive trucks equipped with power spraying equipment
• Create barriers to prevent pests from entering a building

Unwanted pests that infest buildings or surrounding areas can pose serious risks to the health and safety of occupants. Pest control workers control, manage, or remove these creatures from homes, apartments, offices, and other structures to protect people and to maintain buildings' structural integrity.

To design and carry out integrated pest management (IPM) plans, pest control workers must know the identity and biology of a wide range of pests. They must also know the best ways to control or remove the pests.

Pest control workers' position titles and job duties often vary by state. The following are types of pest control workers:

Pest control technicians identify potential pest problems, conduct inspections, and design control strategies. They work directly with customers and, as entry-level workers, use only a limited range of pesticides.

Applicators use a wide range of pesticides and may specialize in a particular area of pest control:

• Termite control technicians use chemicals and modify structures to eliminate termites and prevent future infestations. Some also repair structural damage caused by termites and build barriers to separate pests from their source of food.
• Fumigators use poisonous gases, called fumigants, to treat serious infestations. Fumigators seal infested buildings before using hoses to fill the structure with fumigants. Warning signs are posted to keep people from going into fumigated buildings, and fumigators monitor buildings closely to detect and stop leaks.

Logging workers harvest thousands of acres of forests each year. The timber they harvest provides the raw material for countless consumer and industrial products.

Logging workers typically do the following:

• Cut down trees with hand-held power chain saws or mobile felling machines
• Fasten chains around logs to be dragged by tractors
• Drag logs to the landing or deck area
• Separate logs by species and type of wood and load them onto trucks
• Drive and maneuver tractors and tree harvesters to shear trees and cut logs into desired lengths
• Drive tractors to build or repair logging roads
• Grade logs according to characteristics such as knot size and straightness
• Inspect equipment for safety before using it and do necessary basic maintenance tasks
• Calculate total board feet, cordage, or other wood measurement units, using conversion tables

Timber-cutting and logging are done by a logging crew. The following are some types of logging workers:

Fallers cut down trees with hand-held power chain saws or mobile felling machines.

Buckers trim the tops and branches of felled trees and buck (cut) the logs into specific lengths.

Choke setters fasten chokers (steel cables or chains) around logs to be skidded (dragged) by tractors or forwarded by the cable-yarding system to the landing or deck area, where the logs are separated by species and type of product, such as pulpwood, saw logs, or veneer logs, and loaded onto trucks.

Rigging slingers and chasers set up and dismantle the cables and guy wires of the yarding system.

Log sorters, markers, movers, and chippers sort, mark, and move logs, based on species, size, and ownership, and tend machines that chip up logs.

Logging equipment operators use tree harvesters to fell trees, shear tree limbs off, and cut trees into desired lengths. They drive tractors and operate self-propelled machines called skidders or forwarders, which drag or transport logs to a loading area.

Log graders and scalers inspect logs for defects and measure the logs to determine their volume. They estimate the value of logs or pulpwood. These workers often use hand-held data collection devices to enter data about trees. The data are later downloaded to a computer.

A typical crew might consist of

• one or two tree fallers or one logging equipment operator with a tree harvester to cut down trees
• one bucker to cut logs
• two logging equipment operators with tractors to drag cut trees to the loading deck
• one logging equipment operator to load the logs onto trucks.

Hazardous materials (hazmat) removal workers identify and dispose of asbestos, radioactive and nuclear waste, arsenic, lead, and other hazardous materials. They also clean up materials that are flammable, corrosive, reactive, or toxic.

Hazmat removal workers typically do the following:

• Comply with safety procedures and federal laws regarding waste disposal
• Construct scaffolding or build containment areas before cleaning up
• Remove or clean up hazardous materials that are found or spilled
• Clean contaminated equipment for reuse
• Operate equipment that removes and stores waste materials
• Keep records of cleanup activities

Hazmat removal workers clean up materials that are harmful to people and the environment. The work they do depends on the substances they are cleaning. Removing lead and asbestos is different from cleaning up radiation contamination and toxic spills. Differences also can relate to why these workers have been called in to clean a site. For example, cleaning up a fuel spill from a train derailment is more urgent than removing lead paint from a bridge.

The following are types of hazmat removal workers:

Asbestos abatement workers and lead abatement workers remove asbestos and lead from buildings that are going to be fixed up or taken down. Most of this work is in older buildings that were originally built with asbestos insulation and lead-based paints--both of which are now banned from being used in newer buildings and must be removed from older ones.

Until the 1970s, asbestos was often used in buildings for fireproofing, insulation, and other uses. However, asbestos particles can cause deadly lung diseases. Similarly, until the 1970s, lead was commonly used in paint, pipes, and plumbing fixtures. Inhaling lead dust or ingesting chips of lead-based paint can cause serious health problems, though, especially in children.

Lead abatement workers use chemicals and may need to know how to operate sandblasters, high-pressure water sprayers, and other common tools.

Decommissioning and decontamination workers remove and treat radioactive materials generated by nuclear facilities and powerplants. They break down contaminated items such as “gloveboxes,” which are used to process radioactive materials. When a facility is being closed or decommissioned (taken out of service), these workers clean the facility and decontaminate it from radioactive materials.

Decontamination technicians do tasks similar to those of janitors and cleaners, but the items and areas they clean are radioactive. Some of these jobs are now being done by robots controlled by people away from the contamination site. Increasingly, many of these remote devices automatically monitor and survey floors and walls for contamination.

Emergency and disaster response workers must work quickly to clean up hazardous materials after train and trucking accidents. Immediate, thorough cleanups help to control and prevent more damage to accident or disaster sites.

Radiation-protection technicians use radiation survey meters and other remote devices to locate and assess the hazard associated with radiated materials, operate high-pressure cleaning equipment for decontamination, and package radioactive materials for moving or disposing.

Treatment, storage, and disposal workers transport and prepare materials for treatment, storage, or disposal. To ensure proper treatment of materials, workers must follow laws enforced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). At incinerator facilities, treatment, storage, and disposal workers move materials from the customer or service center to the incinerator. At landfills, they organize and track the location of items in the landfill and may help change the state of a material from liquid to solid to prepare it to be stored. These workers typically operate heavy machinery, such as forklifts, earthmoving machinery, and large trucks and rigs.

Mold remediation makes up a small segment of hazardous materials removal work. Although mold is present in almost all structures and is not usually defined as a hazardous material, some mold--especially the types that cause allergic reactions--can infest a building to such a degree that extensive efforts must be taken to remove it safely.

Construction equipment operators drive, maneuver, or control the heavy machinery used to construct roads, bridges, buildings, and other structures.

Construction equipment operators typically do the following:

• Check to make sure that equipment functions properly
• Clean, maintain, and make basic repairs to equipment
• Report malfunctions to supervisors
• Move levers, push pedals, or turn valves to activate power equipment
• Drive and maneuver equipment
• Coordinate machine actions with crew members in response to hand or audio signals
• Ensure that safety standards are met

Construction equipment operators use machinery to move construction materials, earth, and other heavy materials at construction sites and mines. They operate equipment that clears and grades land to prepare it for construction of roads, bridges, and buildings, as well as airport runways, power generation facilities, dams, levees, and other structures.

The following are types of construction equipment operators:

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators work with one or several types of power construction equipment. They may operate excavation and loading machines equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets that dig sand, gravel, earth, or similar materials. In addition to operating the familiar bulldozer, they operate trench excavators, road graders, and similar equipment. Sometimes, they may drive and control industrial trucks or tractors equipped with forklifts or booms for lifting materials. They also may operate and maintain air compressors, pumps, and other power equipment at construction sites.

Paving and surfacing equipment operators control the machines that spread and level asphalt or spread and smooth concrete for roadways or other structures. Paving and surfacing equipment operators may specialize further:

• Asphalt spreader operators turn valves to regulate the temperature of asphalt and the flow of asphalt onto the roadbed. They must ensure that the machine distributes the paving material evenly, and they also must ensure that there is a constant flow of asphalt into the hopper.
• Concrete paving machine operators control levers and turn handwheels to move attachments that spread, vibrate, and level wet concrete. They must watch the surface of the concrete carefully to identify low spots into which workers must add concrete.
• Tamping equipment operators use machines that compact earth and other fill materials for roadbeds or other construction sites. They also may operate machines with interchangeable hammers to cut or break up old pavement and drive guardrail posts into the ground.

Piledriver operators use large machines mounted on skids, barges, or cranes to hammer piles into the ground. Piles are long, heavy beams of wood or steel driven into the ground to support retaining walls, bridges, piers, or building foundations. Some piledriver operators work on offshore oil rigs.

Some workers operate cranes to move construction materials. For more information on these workers, see the profile on material moving machine operators.