Glass Production Machine Operator
A glass production machine operator tends and monitors automated or semi-automated machinery on a glass manufacturing line, controlling temperature, pressure, and flow rates to produce glass sheets, containers, or fibres to specification. They perform routine maintenance, troubleshoot equipment faults, and ensure compliance with safety and quality standards throughout the production cycle.
What this job is
A glass production machine operator tends and monitors automated or semi-automated machinery on a glass manufacturing line, controlling temperature, pressure, and flow rates to produce glass sheets, containers, or fibres to specification. They perform routine maintenance, troubleshoot equipment faults, and ensure compliance with safety and quality standards throughout the production cycle.
Are employers advertising this role?
Fewer than 50 vacancies were advertised nationally in the latest month. The numbers are too small to draw a reliable trend.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Monitor glass furnace temperatures and adjust heating elements to maintain melting conditions within specified ranges. Operate forming machines such as float line equipment, compression moulds, or blow-moulding machines to shape molten glass into products. Set machine parameters including pressure, conveyor speed, and cooling rates according to production schedules and product specifications. Inspect finished glass products for defects such as cracks, bubbles, discolouration, or dimensional variation using visual inspection and measurement tools. Record production data including batch numbers, temperatures, cycle times, and defect counts in production logs or manufacturing execution systems. Perform routine maintenance tasks such as cleaning mould surfaces, replacing worn rollers, and checking hydraulic fluid levels on glass machinery. Respond to machine alarms and diagnostic signals by troubleshooting common faults such as blockages, temperature fluctuations, or sensor failures. Operate annealing ovens and cooling systems to control the rate of glass cooling and prevent thermal stress or cracking.
Who does this now
About 1,200 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation were generally able to find suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a Certificate II or III (ABS skill level 4). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.
The honest hard part
The work is repetitive and physically demanding with heat exposure near furnaces reaching extreme temperatures. Pay ceilings are low without supervisory progression, and you'll often work shifts including nights and weekends. Automation is gradually replacing basic operator roles, so long-term job security depends on gaining maintenance or technical skills.
Where the jobs are
Employment follows where large glass plants operate, not evenly across Australia.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 7111, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Skills
- Adjust burner controlscore
- Attention to Detailcore
- Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
- Incident Reportingcore
- Inspect quality of productscore
- Inventory Trackingcore
- Maintain equipmentcore
- Maintain furnace temperaturecore
- Manage kiln ventilationcore
- Monitor automated machinescore
- Observe products' behaviour under processing conditionscore
- Operate drying blowerscore
- Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Process Improvement Identificationcore
- Quality Assurance and Checkingcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Set up the controller of a machinecore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Workload Self-Managementcore
- Active Listening
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Consult technical resources
- Continuous Learning and Upskilling
- Data Entry and Accuracy
- ERP and Inventory Systems
- Goods Receipt Processing
- Inspect glass sheet
- Manage waste
- Measure materials
- Mechanics
- Optimise production processes parameters
- Record Management
- Stock Counting and Stocktake
- Supply machine
- Verbal Communication
- Write batch record documentation
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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