{
  "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register",
  "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/helpers-installation-maintenance-and-repair-workers/",
  "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology",
  "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.",
  "scored_at": "2026-08-11",
  "model": "claude-opus-5",
  "occupation": {
    "title": "Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers",
    "soc_code": "49-9098",
    "category": "Trades",
    "us_employment": 95580,
    "median_annual_wage": 39630
  },
  "verdict": "EXPOSED",
  "risk_resistance": 48,
  "contested": false,
  "near_boundary": false,
  "dimensions": {
    "task_resistance": 16,
    "embodiment": 18,
    "liability_shield": 3,
    "trust_premium": 6,
    "judgment_accountability": 5
  },
  "reasoning": {
    "task_resistance": "Fetching a 3/4-inch fitting from the van, torquing bolts by hand, wiping down a gearbox before reassembly, and holding a length of conduit steady while the mechanic threads it are tasks no language model touches and no commercially deployed robot performs on a live jobsite — the 16 rather than 19 reflects that the parts-lookup, work-order, and inventory paperwork side of the helper's day is already going digital.",
    "embodiment": "Crawl spaces, attics in August, plant floors with running machinery, and ladders on uneven ground are the actual workplace, and the 18 is driven by the fact that every location is different and unscripted — short of a 20 only because some of the work happens in a fixed shop bay or maintenance room.",
    "liability_shield": "You are legally invisible on the job: the journeyworker's or master's license covers the installation, the permit is pulled in their name, and the inspector's signature never involves you — the 3 rather than 0 acknowledges OSHA 10, confined-space, or lockout/tagout cards that some employers require before you enter certain areas.",
    "trust_premium": "The customer remembers the tech who diagnosed the unit, not the second person carrying the recovery machine, but repeat commercial and industrial accounts do come to know a reliable helper by name and request the same crew — that's what puts this at 6 instead of 2.",
    "judgment_accountability": "Your calls are bounded by what the lead tells you: which valve to close, which panel to strip, which parts to stage — the 5 covers the real but narrow discretion of stopping work when you see an energized conductor or a load that's about to shift, decisions with consequences you can name but not procedures you author."
  },
  "rationale": "Almost nothing in this job is screen work: you're hauling tools and parts, holding conduit, cleaning equipment, disassembling machinery, and handing wrenches to a journeyworker in attics, plant floors, and crawl spaces — territory where robotics is nowhere close. The exposure is not AI doing your tasks; it's that you hold no license, sign off on nothing, and make few independent calls, so your position depends entirely on remaining a trainee pipeline into a licensed trade. Helpers who advance to apprenticeship and certification move into the 80+ safety band; helpers who stay helpers stay squeezed by crew-size and productivity pressure.",
  "outlook": "The physical work is safe for a decade, but helper headcount will thin as crews get leaner and AI-assisted diagnostics reduce the second-pair-of-hands need — advancement into a licensed trade is the real job security.",
  "what_would_raise_it": {
    "levers": [
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "State or utility rules that require a registered/indentured apprentice card for anyone touching regulated systems — e.g. gas, refrigerant, or electrical work — rather than an unlicensed 'helper' classification. EPA 608 Section 608 already bars uncertified handling of refrigerant; expanding similar named-individual requirements (e.g. state HVAC apprentice registration mandates in TX/FL, or NFPA 70E arc-flash qualified-person documentation) converts the helper slot into a credentialed one with a named person on the work record.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 5
      },
      {
        "dimension": "liability_shield",
        "change": "Union or PLA language on public projects requiring documented apprentice-to-journeyworker ratios (1:1 or 1:3) as a condition of contract award — already standard in IBEW/UA agreements and in federal Registered Apprenticeship utilization requirements under some IIJA/CHIPS grant terms. This makes the helper headcount contractually mandatory rather than a cost line to trim.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "judgment_accountability",
        "change": "Formal lockout/tagout and confined-space entry roles: OSHA 1910.147 and 1910.146 require a named authorized employee and a named attendant. Where employers assign the attendant/LOTO-verifier role to the helper with documented sign-off rather than to the lead, the position acquires a consequential, personally-attributed call.",
        "plausibility": "plausible",
        "would_add": 4
      },
      {
        "dimension": "task_resistance",
        "change": "Task-mix shift as parts identification, manual lookup, and diagnostic prep are absorbed by lead techs' AI tools: what remains for the helper is physical fault-finding, retrofit demolition in occupied buildings, and rigging in non-standard spaces. This raises the floor only marginally — the score is already 16 and the residual is body work, not judgment work.",
        "plausibility": "already happening",
        "would_add": 2
      }
    ],
    "ceiling_note": "No plausible route to trust_premium: buyers contract with the licensed contractor and never select or pay extra for a specific helper. Also note the structural cap — every real lever here works by ending the helper classification (converting it to registered apprentice), not by making 'helper' safer. The occupation code itself is the exposure."
  },
  "adjudication": null,
  "employment_history": {
    "points": [
      {
        "y": 2017,
        "emp": 112080,
        "wage": 28490
      },
      {
        "y": 2018,
        "emp": 105040,
        "wage": 29450
      },
      {
        "y": 2019,
        "emp": 99460,
        "wage": 30530
      },
      {
        "y": 2020,
        "emp": 91430,
        "wage": 31760
      },
      {
        "y": 2021,
        "emp": 88480,
        "wage": 33100
      },
      {
        "y": 2022,
        "emp": 93650,
        "wage": 35100
      },
      {
        "y": 2023,
        "emp": 101890,
        "wage": 36710
      },
      {
        "y": 2024,
        "emp": 97540,
        "wage": 38860
      },
      {
        "y": 2025,
        "emp": 95580,
        "wage": 39630
      }
    ],
    "from": 2017,
    "to": 2025,
    "change_pct": -14.7,
    "comparable_from": 2019,
    "spans_soc_revision": true
  },
  "pivots": [
    {
      "slug": "control-and-valve-installers-and-repairers-except-mechanical-door",
      "title": "Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door",
      "verdict": "SAFE",
      "risk_resistance": 68,
      "median_wage": 74340,
      "overlap": 89,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Writing",
        "Management of Financial Resources",
        "Science"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "riggers",
      "title": "Riggers",
      "verdict": "SAFE",
      "risk_resistance": 70,
      "median_wage": 62640,
      "overlap": 87,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Management of Personnel Resources",
        "Operations Analysis",
        "Reading Comprehension"
      ]
    },
    {
      "slug": "sheet-metal-workers",
      "title": "Sheet Metal Workers",
      "verdict": "SAFE",
      "risk_resistance": 67,
      "median_wage": 61800,
      "overlap": 87,
      "skills_to_close": [
        "Mathematics",
        "Instructing",
        "Management of Personnel Resources",
        "Operations Analysis"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms"
}