environmental technician
Environmental technicians investigate sources of pollution and aid in the development of pollution prevention and environment protection plans. They take samples of soil, water or other materials and perform tests to analyse the pollution level and identify its source.
environmental technician environmental technicians investigate sources of pollution and aid in the development of pollution prevention and environment protection plans. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include human-robot collaboration, machine learning, electrical engineering, virtual reality, environmental legislation.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £28,210 a year for Laboratory technicians (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £24,975 to £34,028 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3111). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only environmental technician, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Chemistry
- English Language
- Biology
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
What you'd actually do
- Collect samples of gases, soils, water, industrial wastewater, or asbestos products to conduct tests on pollutant levels or identify sources of pollution.
- Investigate hazardous conditions or spills or outbreaks of disease or food poisoning, collecting samples for analysis.
- Record test data and prepare reports, summaries, or charts that interpret test results.
- Prepare samples or photomicrographs for testing and analysis.
- Discuss test results and analyses with customers.
- Inspect workplaces to ensure the absence of health and safety hazards, such as high noise levels, radiation, or potential lighting hazards.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does environmental technician do?
Environmental technicians investigate sources of pollution and aid in the development of pollution prevention and environment protection plans. They take samples of soil, water or other materials and perform tests to analyse the pollution level and identify its source.
What skills does environmental technician need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include human-robot collaboration, machine learning, electrical engineering, virtual reality, environmental legislation, predictive maintenance. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace environmental technician?
Our AI-durability model gives environmental technician a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.