Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary Unskilled -- Ampoule Sealer

Sedentary work that does not exceed six hours of sitting in an eight-hour day represents a small window.  The DOT and the regulations define sedentary work as involving standing or walking not more than occasionally, 2.3 hours.  Sedentary work as depicted by a residual functional capacity question with a lower limit of 5.7 hours an upper limit of 6.0 hours constitutes a slender reed.  

 Understanding sedentary work rests on the difference between and and or.  Light work exists (1) when it requires walking or standing to a significant degree; OR (2) when it requires sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; AND/OR (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible.  

Sedentary work exists when the work (1) when it does not require walking or standing to a significant degree; AND (2) when it requires sitting most of the time and does not involve pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; AND (3) when the job requires working at a production rate pace but does not entail the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of those materials is negligible.  Transgressing the standing/walking, lifting/carrying, pushing/pulling with the arms or legs, or production rate pace strips away any hope for that sedentary label.  

The cadre of vocational experts rely on 16 different DOT codes in the sedentary range.  Ignoring obsolescence and industry, the question is whether the occupations are unskilled, sedentary, and do not exceed 6.0 hours of sitting in a full-time workday.  

2.  Ampoule Sealer (DOT 559.687-014)

Packers and Packagers, Hand (SOC 53-7064) is almost 600,000 jobs in 59 DOT codes. The details for skill level on the ORS confirm that hand packers and packagers engage in mostly unskilled work:

SVP Calculations
SVP	Value	Jobs	Calculation
SVP 1	14.2%	599,700	85,157
SVP 2	77.1%	599,700	462,369

The hours of standing suggest that some of the jobs do not require standing/walking the vast majority of the day:

Hours Standing Calculations
Hours	Percentile	Jobs	Calculation
<= 6.95 Hours	Mean	599,700	Not Applicable
<= 4 Hours	10th	599,700	59,970
<= 5.88 Hours	25th	599,700	149,925
<= 8 Hours	50th	599,700	299,850

The percentage of the day disabuses the notion quickly:

Standing is Required Calculations
% Of Day	Percentile	Jobs	Calculation
<= 94.1%	Mean	599,700	Not Applicable
<= 90%	10th	599,700	59,970
<= 98%	25th	599,700	149,925
<= 100%	50th	599,700	299,850

The O*NET confirms the absence of sedentary hand packers and packagers:

Exertional	%	Response
Spend Time Standing — How much does this job require standing?	54	Continually or almost continually
	19	More than half the time
	27	About half the time
	0	Less than half the time
	0	Never

Exertional	%	Response
Spend Time Sitting — How much does this job require sitting?	0	Continually or almost continually
	9	More than half the time
	21	About half the time
	20	Less than half the time
	50	Never

No reported range of work has 33% or less of standing in a workday.  There is no statistical basis for estimating the existence of sedentary hand packers and packagers. 

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Suggested Citation:

Lawrence Rohlfing, Common DOT Codes -- Sedentary, Unskilled -- Ampoule Sealer, California Social Security Attorney (December 10, 2021)  https://californiasocialsecurityattorney.blogspot.com