How to become Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in 2024

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining Operate or tend machinery at surface mining site, equipped with scoops, shovels, or buckets to excavate and load loose materials.

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining is Also Know as

In different settings, Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining is titled as

  • Backhoe Operator
  • Dragline Oiler
  • Dragline Operator
  • Equipment Operator
  • Excavator Operator
  • Heavy Equipment Operator
  • Loader Operator
  • Pit Operator
  • Track Hoe Operator

Education and Training of Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Education Required for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Degrees Related to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Training Required for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in different industries are

What Do Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining do?

  • Move levers, depress foot pedals, and turn dials to operate power machinery, such as power shovels, stripping shovels, scraper loaders, or backhoes.
  • Set up or inspect equipment prior to operation.
  • Observe hand signals, grade stakes, or other markings when operating machines so that work can be performed to specifications.
  • Become familiar with digging plans, machine capabilities and limitations, and efficient and safe digging procedures in a given application.
  • Operate machinery to perform activities such as backfilling excavations, vibrating or breaking rock or concrete, or making winter roads.
  • Lubricate, adjust, or repair machinery and replace parts, such as gears, bearings, or bucket teeth.
  • Move materials over short distances, such as around a construction site, factory, or warehouse.
  • Measure and verify levels of rock or gravel, bases, or other excavated material.
  • Receive written or oral instructions regarding material movement or excavation.
  • Adjust dig face angles for varying overburden depths and set lengths.
  • Drive machines to work sites.
  • Perform manual labor to prepare or finish sites, such as shoveling materials by hand.
  • Direct ground workers engaged in activities such as moving stakes or markers, or changing positions of towers.
  • Direct workers engaged in placing blocks or outriggers to prevent capsizing of machines when lifting heavy loads.
  • Create or maintain inclines or ramps.
  • Handle slides, mud, or pit cleanings or maintenance.

Qualities of Good Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.

Tools Used by Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Adjustable wrenches
  • Air grease guns
  • Asphalt plants
  • Backhoes
  • Claw hammers
  • Compact excavators
  • Computer terminals
  • Concrete plants
  • Crawler mounted draglines
  • Crusher excavator buckets
  • Dump trucks
  • Earthmover standard buckets
  • Engineers' levels
  • Excavator backhoes
  • Flatbed truck trailers
  • Forklifts
  • Front and back shovel wheel loaders
  • Front end loaders
  • Grading buckets
  • Grapplers
  • Grease guns
  • Hand grease guns
  • Hand levels
  • High bed trailers
  • Hydraulic excavators
  • Laser levels
  • Lifting slings
  • Locking pliers
  • Long reach excavators
  • Low bed trailers
  • Measuring tapes
  • Mini excavators
  • Mud buckets
  • Phillips head screwdrivers
  • Power augers
  • Protective ear muffs
  • Respirators
  • Rock buckets
  • Rock crushers
  • Rock draglines
  • Rock hammers
  • Rock trucks
  • Safety goggles
  • Self-loader trailers
  • Skid steer loaders
  • Skip loaders
  • Straight screwdrivers
  • Telescoping excavators
  • Tire pressure gauges
  • Tracked excavators
  • Trencher excavator attachments
  • Truck excavators
  • Vacuum excavators
  • Walking draglines
  • Water trucks
  • Wheel blocks
  • Wheel loaders
  • Wheeled excavators
  • Wheeled front end loaders
  • Wireless touch screen monitors

Technology Skills required for Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining

  • Email software
  • Google Gmail
  • Machine control systems
  • Machine monitoring software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Microsoft Word
  • Spreadsheet software
  • Word processing software