Transportation Security Screener

Conduct screening of passengers, baggage, or cargo to ensure compliance with Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations. May operate basic security equipment such as x-ray machines and hand wands at screening checkpoints.

O*NET reports this occupation under titles such as: Security Screener; Transportation Security Officer (TSO)

Tasks

• Inspect carry-on items, using x-ray viewing equipment, to determine whether items contain objects that warrant further investigation.
• Search carry-on or checked baggage by hand when it is suspected to contain prohibited items such as weapons.
• Check passengers' tickets to ensure that they are valid, and to determine whether passengers have designations that require special handling, such as providing photo identification.
• Test baggage for any explosive materials, using equipment such as explosive detection machines or chemical swab systems.
• Perform pat-down or hand-held wand searches of passengers who have triggered machine alarms, who are unable to pass through metal detectors, or who have been randomly identified for such searches.
• Notify supervisors or other appropriate personnel when security breaches occur.
• Send checked baggage through automated screening machines, and set bags aside for searching or rescreening as indicated by equipment.
• Decide whether baggage that triggers alarms should be searched or should be allowed to pass through.
• Follow those who breach security until police or other security personnel arrive to apprehend them.
• Inform other screeners when baggage should not be opened because it might contain explosives.
• Inspect checked baggage for signs of tampering.
• Ask passengers to remove shoes and divest themselves of metal objects prior to walking through metal detectors.
• Close entry areas following security breaches or reopen areas after receiving notification that the airport is secure.
• Challenge suspicious people, requesting their badges and asking what their business is in a particular areas.
• Patrol work areas to detect any suspicious items.

Knowledge

• Public Safety and Security
• Customer and Personal Service
• English Language

Skills

• Speaking
• Monitoring
• Active Listening
• Critical Thinking
• Reading Comprehension

Abilities

• Problem Sensitivity
• Selective Attention
• Oral Comprehension
• Oral Expression
• Deductive Reasoning
• Inductive Reasoning
• Flexibility of Closure
• Near Vision
• Speech Recognition
• Speech Clarity
• Information Ordering
• Perceptual Speed
• Written Comprehension
• Category Flexibility
• Far Vision
• Manual Dexterity
• Finger Dexterity
• Multilimb Coordination