Home › Work activities › Operate drilling equipment
O*NET detailed work activityOperate drilling equipment
Stays humanHands-on work
3 jobs8 tasks
This is physical, in-person work with real objects, tools, equipment and places that change from day to day. AI can't do it for you.
Part of Operate construction or excavation equipment, under the O*NET work activity group Controlling Machines and Processes. Individual tasks below can carry a different label when their own wording calls for it (0 AI-ready, 0 AI-assist, 8 stays human).
Tasks built on this activity
- 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.
- Operate controls to stabilize machines and to position and align drills.
- Start, stop, and control drilling speed of machines and insertion of casings into holes.
- Regulate air pressure, rotary speed, and downward pressure, according to the type of rock or concrete being drilled.
- Operate water-well drilling rigs and other equipment to drill, bore, and dig for water wells or for environmental assessment purposes.
- Cap wells with packers, or turn valves, to regulate outflow of oil from wells.
- Regulate the speed of revolutions and reciprocating actions of drilling mechanisms.
- Retract augers to force discharge dirt from holes.