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It's perfectly correct to say

I'm a responsible employee.

However, what adjective should I use for non-living things or activities to convey the same meaning?

The work is "responsible".

Meaning that the work can be done only by reliable and diligent people.

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Reliable:

  • Capable of being relied on; dependable: a reliable car.

Considering your update I suggest:

Exacting:

  • Requiring great care, effort, or attention: an exacting task.
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  • Thank you for the reply, Josh. I have updated the question, I'm looking for the meaning "can be done only by reliable and diligent people"
    – Konstantin
    Feb 10, 2015 at 18:49
  • +1 Apologies. I obviously resonated to your answer and substituted your term for the OP's. I have edited to include both.
    – bib
    Feb 10, 2015 at 19:41
  • @bib - no prob..will update my answer now:))
    – user66974
    Feb 10, 2015 at 19:44
  • I like exacting even better.
    – bib
    Feb 10, 2015 at 20:36
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While somewhat more intense than responsible or reliable, you might say work or a project is critical

Having a decisive or crucial importance in the success, failure, or existence of something

Oxford Dictionaries Online

By implication, such important activities should only be done by responsible or reliable persons.

The term mission critical is also used to indicate that successful completion of a task is essential to success of a larger program.

necessary for a business or other organization to work well mission-critical software

The Urban Dictionary characterizes this usage as tired and over-used.

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1

You can consider high-powered.

Involving a great deal of responsibility: a very high-powered job [OD]

Example:

Going for jobs which are high-powered shows you are keen to take risks.

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  • Thank you for the reply, it seems like a very nice suggestion.
    – Konstantin
    Feb 10, 2015 at 19:54
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Responsible, as you will have gathered is used in different senses as an adjective.

One can talk about a responsible person, responsible employee etc. One can also say that the work of an airline captain is a responsible job, meaning it is a job which demands a high level of responsibility. Used in this sense it means the person is reliable, trustworthy and sensible.

In a different sense you can say that a particular person is responsible for the financial affairs of the business. That means it is their job, their duty.

In yet another sense one might ask who was responsible for breaking this window?, meaning Who broke the window?

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  • "What was responsible for the broken window?" "This baseball was responsible. Yes, I hit the baseball in the direction of the window, but in the end, I didn't break the window, it was the baseball".
    – Mitch
    Feb 10, 2015 at 20:00
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Professional

1.1 Worthy of or appropriate to a professional person; competent, skillful, or assured:

OED

Alternatively:

Particular:

3.0 Insisting that something should be correct or suitable in every detail; fastidious:

Specialized

ADJECTIVE

1.0 Requiring or involving detailed and specific knowledge or training:

Exacting:

ADJECTIVE

Making great demands on one’s skill, attention, or other resources:

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com

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3
  • "Exacting" is very close to what I wanted! Thank you!
    – Konstantin
    Feb 10, 2015 at 20:02
  • 2
    Exacting looks very much like my suggestion!!
    – user66974
    Feb 10, 2015 at 20:04
  • Yes, it does, sorry I missed that @Josh61. I have moved it to the bottom of my list to confirm your initiative.
    – ScotM
    Feb 10, 2015 at 20:15

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