Power Station Worker

Job Description:

Power station workers operate and maintain equipment in power stations.

Job Category:

Energy & Utilities

You could work in the following types of power generation:

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

operating machinery in a power plant, or running it remotely from a control room
finding and fixing faults
handling materials used to generate electricity
testing equipment
reacting to emergencies, for example shutting down a system

You’ll need to follow strict safety procedures and environmental good practice.

You’ll need:

As well as:

to be thorough and pay attention to detail (organisational skills)
patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations (leadership skills)
the ability to work on your own (drive)
to be flexible and open to change (adaptability skills)

You can get into this job through an apprenticeship. You could also start as a trainee.

Experience in engineering or maintenance work could help you get into this career. Engineering qualifications could also help.

Most employers will expect you to have studied the subjects:

You must register with a power industry safety scheme.

You’ll usually work 40 hours and do a 5-day week. You may work shifts including nights and weekends or be on standby for emergencies.

You could be in a clean control room or a dusty repair workshop. You’ll wear protective clothing.

With experience, you could become a supervisor, control and instrumentation engineer or operations or maintenance technician.

You could also take a foundation degree or degree in power engineering and become an electrical or mechanical engineer.