How To Become A Decontamination Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a decontamination technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a decontamination technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $21.29 an hour? That's $44,291 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 3,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDecontamination TechnicianUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,291

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.97%

Asian 8.88%

Black or African American 10.43%

Hispanic or Latino 15.80%

Unknown 5.60%

White 58.32%

Gender

female 30.35%

male 69.65%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a decontamination technician

Explore decontamination technician education requirements

Most common decontamination technician degrees

Bachelor's

33.1 %

High School Diploma

31.3 %

Associate

23.9 %

Start to develop specific decontamination technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Papr	13.71%
Safety Procedures	12.70%
PPE	12.24%
Hazardous Materials	9.60%
Radioactive Waste	6.90%

Complete relevant decontamination technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New decontamination technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a decontamination technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real decontamination technician resumes.

Research decontamination technician duties and responsibilities

Concrete crushing, demolition, and wrecking of commercial buildings, apartments, and homes.
Assign with ALARA for lead shielding projects.
Monitor NRC license compliance and support inspections.
Set up ladders, scaffolds and hoists.

Prepare your decontamination technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your decontamination technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a decontamination technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable decontamination technician resume templates

Build a professional decontamination technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your decontamination technician resume.