Home › Work activities › Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment
O*NET detailed work activityOperate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment
Stays humanHands-on work
46 jobs60 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 lifting or moving 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, 60 stays human).
Tasks built on this activity
- Raise vehicles, using hydraulic jacks.
- Move levers, depress foot pedals, or turn dials to operate cranes, cherry pickers, electromagnets, or other moving equipment for lifting, moving, or placing loads.
- Move levers or controls that operate lifting devices, such as forklifts, lift beams with swivel-hooks, hoists, or elevating platforms, to load, unload, transport, or stack material.
- 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.
- Move hand and foot levers of hoisting equipment to position piling leads, hoist piling into leads, and position hammers over pilings.
- Apply hand or foot brakes and move levers to lock hoists or winches.
- Raise trucks, buses, and heavy parts or equipment using hydraulic jacks or hoists.
- Operate controls to move or discharge metal workpieces from furnaces.
- Start engines of hoists or winches and use levers and pedals to wind or unwind cable on drums.
- Move levers, pedals, and throttles to stop, start, and regulate speeds of hoist or winch drums in response to hand, bell, buzzer, telephone, loud-speaker, or whistle signals, or by observing dial indicators or cable marks.
- Lift units or parts such as motors or generators, using cranes or chain hoists, or signal crane operators to lift heavy parts or subassemblies.
- Control movement of heavy equipment through narrow openings or confined spaces, using chainfalls, gin poles, gallows frames, and other equipment.
- Fasten structural steel members to hoist cables, using chains, cables, or rope.
- Operate automated or semi-automated hoisting devices that raise refuse bins and dump contents into openings in truck bodies.
- Transport machine parts, tools, equipment, and other material between work areas and storage, using cranes, hoists, or dollies.
- Tend auxiliary equipment, such as jacks, slings, cables, or stop blocks, to facilitate moving items or materials for further processing.
- Operate controls that raise derricks or level rigs.
- Operate ship loading and unloading equipment, conveyors, hoists, and other specialized material handling equipment such as railroad tank car unloading equipment.
- Operate compressed air, diesel, electric, gasoline, or steam-driven hoists or winches to control movement of cableways, cages, derricks, draglines, loaders, railcars, or skips.
- Operate hoists to place workpieces onto machine feed carriages or spindles.
- Operate lifting or moving devices to move equipment or materials to access areas to be painted.
- Clamp holding fixtures on ends of hoisting cables.
- Dismantle machines, equipment, or devices to access and remove defective parts, using hoists, cranes, hand tools, or power tools.
- Lift and align components into position, using hoist or block and tackle.
- String cables through pulleys and blocks.
- Operate hoists to position dies or patterns on foundry floors.
- Raise rails, using hydraulic jacks, to allow for tie removal and replacement.
- Operate cranes or hoists with suction cups to lift large, heavy pieces of glass.
- Examine engines through specially designed openings while working from ladders or scaffolds, or use hoists or lifts to remove the entire engine from an aircraft.
- Move or position materials such as marble slabs, using cranes, hoists, or dollies.
- Operate, maintain, or repair ship equipment, such as winches, cranes, derricks, or weapons system.
- Thread cables through derrick pulleys, using hand tools.
- Turn cranks or press buttons to activate winches that move cars under sawing cables or saw frames.
- Guide cranes to move loads about decks.
- Remove sections of monument from truck bed, and guide stone onto foundation, using skids, hoist, or truck crane.
- Locate and recover lost or broken bits, casings, and drill pipes from wells, using special tools.
- Move levers to raise and lower hydraulic safety bars supporting roofs above machines until other workers complete framing.
- Salvage wrecked ships or their cargo, using pneumatic power velocity and hydraulic tools and explosive charges, when necessary.
- Operate small cranes to transport or position large parts.
- Adjust controls to guide, position, or move equipment, such as cranes, booms, or cameras.
- Retrieve lost equipment from bore holes, using retrieval tools and equipment.
- Attach slings, hooks, or other devices to lift cargo and guide loads.
- Control hoists to remove parts or products from work stations.
- Lift equipment into position, using cranes and rigging tools or equipment, such as gin poles.
- Operate cranes to move or load baskets, casks, or canisters.
Tasks where it is part of the work
- Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually.
- Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment.
- Use forklifts or cranes to move construction material, such as rebar.
- Move machinery and equipment, using hoists, dollies, rollers, and trucks.
- Lift steel beams, girders, or columns using cranes or forklifts, or by signaling hoisting equipment operators to lift or position structural steel members.
- Hang drywall panels on metal frameworks of walls and ceilings in offices, schools, or other large buildings, using lifts or hoists to adjust panel heights, when necessary.
- Load and arrange glass or mirrors onto delivery trucks, using suction cups or cranes to lift glass.
- Manipulate rigging lines, hoists, and pulling gear to move or support materials, such as heavy equipment, ships, or theatrical sets.
- Operate cranes, or signal crane operators to position or remove stone from cars or saw beds.
- Recover objects by placing rigging around sunken objects, hooking rigging to crane lines, and operating winches, derricks, or cranes to raise objects.
- Load or unload materials into containers or onto trucks, using hoists or forklifts.
- Operate consoles to control automatic palletizing equipment.
- Attach rigging and signal crane or hoist operators to lift heavy frame and plate sections or other parts into place.
- Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
- Dig holes for power poles, using power augers or shovels, set poles in place with cranes, and hoist poles upright, using winches.