Helpers--Extraction Workers
Help extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers, blasters and explosives workers, derrick operators, and mining machine operators, by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying equipment or cleaning work area.
Most important skills
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Equipment Maintenance
- Troubleshooting
- Repairing
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Transportation
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- Education and Training
- Production and Processing
What the work involves
- Repair and maintain automotive and drilling equipment, using hand tools.
- Observe and monitor equipment operation during the extraction process to detect any problems.
- Drive moving equipment to transport materials and parts to excavation sites.
- Clean up work areas and remove debris after extraction activities are complete.
- Organize materials to prepare for use.
- Unload materials, devices, and machine parts, using hand tools.
- Load materials into well holes or into equipment, using hand tools.
- Clean and prepare sites for excavation or boring.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (96.6% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (55.5%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (47%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Helpers--Extraction Workers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 57% of occupations compared | 72% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 75% of occupations compared | — |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 67% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 51% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 78% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 64% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 65% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 84% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 19.75%
- Contact with others about half the time: 2.38%
- Contact with others most of the time: 6.13%
- Constant contact with others: 71.75%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Fairly important: 9.21%
- Important: 17.68%
- Very important: 3.34%
- Extremely important: 30.64%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 6.83%
- Important: 4.77%
- Very important: 23.89%
- Extremely important: 64.52%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 3.72%
- Limited freedom: 23.44%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 12.92%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.41%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 40.1%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.97%
- Every day: 30.6%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 12.92%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 37.02%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.69%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 2%
- Every day: 32.37%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.92%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 17.73%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 21.69%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45.93%
- Every day: 1.73%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 19.68%
- Fairly serious: 1.34%
- Serious: 10.57%
- Very serious: 12.24%
- Extremely serious: 56.17%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 47-5081.00 · SOC 47-5081 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8