- Monitor drilling operations, by checking gauges and listening to equipment to assess drilling conditions and to determine the need to adjust drilling or alter equipment.
Occupations with related tasks Save Table: XLSX CSV
- Listen to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions.
- Monitor sound wave-generating or detecting mechanisms to determine well fluid levels.
- Maintain and perform safety inspections on equipment and tools.
- Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs.
- Prepare reports of services rendered, tools used, or time required, for billing purposes.
- Install pressure-control devices onto wellheads.
- Confer with others to gather information regarding pipe or tool sizes or borehole conditions in wells.
- Operate pumps that circulate water, oil, or other fluids through wells to remove sand or other materials obstructing the free flow of oil.
- Drive truck-mounted units to well sites.
- Interpret instrument readings to ascertain the depth of obstruction.
- Thread cables through derrick pulleys, using hand tools.
- Select fishing methods or tools for removing obstacles such as liners, broken casing, screens, or drill pipe.
- Close and seal wells no longer in use.
- Direct drilling crews performing activities such as assembling and connecting pipe, applying weights to drill pipes, or drilling around lodged obstacles.
- Apply green technologies or techniques, such as the use of coiled tubing, slim-hole drilling, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, or gas lift systems.
- Operate specialized equipment to remove obstructions by backing off or severing pipes by chemical or explosive action.
- Perforate well casings or sidewalls of boreholes with explosive charges.
- Examine unserviceable wells to determine actions to be taken to improve well conditions.
- Insert detection instruments into wells with obstructions.
- Listen to engines, rotary chains, or other equipment to detect faulty operations or unusual well conditions.
- Monitor sound wave-generating or detecting mechanisms to determine well fluid levels.
- Observe and monitor equipment operation during the extraction process to detect any problems.
- Drive moving equipment to transport materials and parts to excavation sites.
- Unload materials, devices, and machine parts, using hand tools.
- Set up and adjust equipment used to excavate geological materials.
- Organize materials to prepare for use.
- Repair and maintain automotive and drilling equipment, using hand tools.
- Clean up work areas and remove debris after extraction activities are complete.
- Clean and prepare sites for excavation or boring.
- Load materials into well holes or into equipment, using hand tools.
- Provide assistance to extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers and derrick operators.
- Collect and examine geological matter, using hand tools and testing devices.
- Signal workers to start geological material extraction or boring.
- Dismantle extracting and boring equipment used for excavation, using hand tools.
- Dig trenches.
- Observe and monitor equipment operation during the extraction process to detect any problems.
- Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions.
- Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.
- Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.
- Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.
- Operate mining machines to gather coal and convey it to floors or shuttle cars.
- Drive machines into position at working faces.
- Move controls to start and regulate movement of conveyors and to start and position drill cutters or torches.
- Reposition machines to make additional holes or cuts.
- Determine locations, boundaries, and depths of holes or channels to be cut.
- Repair, oil, and adjust machines, and change cutting teeth, using wrenches.
- Install casings to prevent cave-ins.
- Scrape or wash conveyors, using belt scrapers or belt washers, to minimize dust production.
- Move levers to raise and lower hydraulic safety bars supporting roofs above machines until other workers complete framing.
- Apply new technologies developed to minimize the environmental impact of coal mining.
- Guide and assist crews laying track and resetting supports and blocking.
- Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions.
- Listen to mud pumps and check regularly for vibration and other problems to ensure that rig pumps and drilling mud systems are working properly.
- Inspect derricks, or order their inspection, prior to being raised or lowered.
- Inspect derricks for flaws, and clean and oil derricks to maintain proper working conditions.
- Control the viscosity and weight of the drilling fluid.
- Repair pumps, mud tanks, and related equipment.
- Set and bolt crown blocks to posts at tops of derricks.
- Start pumps that circulate mud through drill pipes and boreholes to cool drill bits and flush out drill cuttings.
- Position and align derrick elements, using harnesses and platform climbing devices.
- Supervise crew members, and provide assistance in training them.
- Guide lengths of pipe into and out of elevators.
- Prepare mud reports, and instruct crews about the handling of any chemical additives.
- Clamp holding fixtures on ends of hoisting cables.
- Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud, using portable mixers.
- String cables through pulleys and blocks.
- Steady pipes during connection to or disconnection from drill or casing strings.
- Listen to mud pumps and check regularly for vibration and other problems to ensure that rig pumps and drilling mud systems are working properly.
- Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools.
- Train crews, and introduce procedures to make drill work more safe and effective.
- Observe pressure gauge and move throttles and levers to control the speed of rotary tables, and to regulate pressure of tools at bottoms of boreholes.
- Count sections of drill rod to determine depths of boreholes.
- Push levers and brake pedals to control gasoline, diesel, electric, or steam draw works that lower and raise drill pipes and casings in and out of wells.
- Connect sections of drill pipe, using hand tools and powered wrenches and tongs.
- Maintain records of footage drilled, location and nature of strata penetrated, materials and tools used, services rendered, and time required.
- Maintain and adjust machinery to ensure proper performance.
- Start and examine operation of slush pumps to ensure circulation and consistency of drilling fluid or mud in well.
- Locate and recover lost or broken bits, casings, and drill pipes from wells, using special tools.
- Weigh clay, and mix with water and chemicals to make drilling mud.
- Direct rig crews in drilling and other activities, such as setting up rigs and completing or servicing wells.
- Repair or replace defective parts of machinery, such as rotary drill rigs, water trucks, air compressors, and pumps, using hand tools.
- Clean and oil pulleys, blocks, and cables.
- Bolt together pump and engine parts, and connect tanks and flow lines.
- Remove core samples during drilling to determine the nature of the strata being drilled.
- Cap wells with packers, or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells.
- Line drilled holes with pipes, and install all necessary hardware, to prepare new wells.
- Position and prepare truck-mounted derricks at drilling areas specified on field maps.
- Plug observation wells, and restore sites.
- Lower and explode charges in boreholes to start flow of oil from wells.
- Dig holes, set forms, and mix and pour concrete, for foundations of steel or wooden derricks.
- Monitor progress of drilling operations, and select and change drill bits according to the nature of strata, using hand tools.
- Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
- Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
- Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
- Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.
- Place explosive charges in holes or other spots; then detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials.
- Insert, pack, and pour explosives, such as dynamite, ammonium nitrate, black powder, or slurries into blast holes; then shovel drill cuttings, admit water into boreholes, and tamp material to compact charges.
- Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
- Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
- Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
- Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
- Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
- Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
- Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures.
- Light fuses, drop detonating devices into wells or boreholes, or activate firing devices with plungers, dials, or buttons, in order to set off single or multiple blasts.
- Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites.
- Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends.
- Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary.
- Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools.
- Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information.
- Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
- Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports.
- Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges.
- Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
- Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches.
- Obtain samples of earth from sidewalls of well boreholes, using electrically exploding devices.
- Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.
- Document geological formations encountered during work.
- Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
- Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, and drills, in order to bore charge holes.
- Signal crane operators to move equipment.
- Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
