Bench hand vs fabrication operator

The differences between bench hands and fabrication operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a bench hand has an average salary of $36,500, which is higher than the $31,772 average annual salary of a fabrication operator.

The top three skills for a bench hand include hand tools, grinders and cranes. The most important skills for a fabrication operator are tape measure, hand tools, and calipers.

Bench hand vs fabrication operator overview

	Bench Hand	Fabrication Operator
Yearly salary	$36,500	$31,772
Hourly rate	$17.55	$15.28
Growth rate	-5%	-5%
Number of jobs	5,097	56,825
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	High School Diploma, 36%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	-	-

Bench hand vs fabrication operator salary

Bench hands and fabrication operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bench Hand	Fabrication Operator
Average salary	$36,500	$31,772
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $50,000	Between $25,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	-	Mankato, MN
Highest paying state	-	North Dakota
Best paying company	-	Sanmina
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between bench hand and fabrication operator education

There are a few differences between a bench hand and a fabrication operator in terms of educational background:

	Bench Hand	Fabrication Operator
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 46%	High School Diploma, 36%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Bench hand vs fabrication operator demographics

Here are the differences between bench hands' and fabrication operators' demographics:

	Bench Hand	Fabrication Operator
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1%	Male, 77.6% Female, 22.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 8.8% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 9.4% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between bench hand and fabrication operator duties and responsibilities

Bench hand example responsibilities.

Operate various machines including; hones, lathes and surface grinders.
Execute bench, machine and hand tool work in shaping, fitting and assembling forging dies, jigs and fixtures.
Perform all machining operations necessary to build production machinery and tooling to manufacture a wide selection of aerospace fasteners.
Unload trucks using forklift and overhead crane.
Perform in-house calibration on rulers, calipers, digital indicators and leak tester following the approved calibration procedure.

Fabrication operator example responsibilities.

Coordinate with engineers and supervisor for setting up Amada press brake, forming sheet metal chassis and parts for productions.
Operate any coil fabrication machine producing aluminum coils.
Monitor, control and operate computerized wafer equipment for the inspection, etching or alignment of integrate circuits.
Perform duties in accordance with GMP principles.
Shape metal material over anvils, blocks, or other forms, using hand tools.

Bench hand vs fabrication operator skills

Common bench hand skills

Hand Tools, 48%
Grinders, 19%
Cranes, 14%
Drill Presses, 10%
Manual Lathes, 6%
Visual Inspections, 2%

Common fabrication operator skills

Tape Measure, 12%
Hand Tools, 9%
Calipers, 7%
Grinders, 6%
MIG, 5%
Customer Satisfaction, 4%