Drillers / Drill Operators

A Driller or Drill Operator operates machines used to drill in quarries, mines, or construction sites.

About this Career

Average Salary

£29,388

New workers start at around £20,133. Normal pay is £29,388 per year. Highly experienced workers can earn up to £44,705

Annual Openings

7

Job counts include both employed and self-employed persons in London, and do not distinguish between full and part-time jobs

Daily Tasks

  • Performs other mining and quarrying tasks not elsewhere classified including digging clay from open pits, operating high-pressure hoses to wash china clay from open pit faces and otherwise assisting miners.
  • Operates agitators/vibrators to separate minerals and ensures that screened, filtered, crushed and separated material is discharged to appropriate chutes or conveyors.
  • Conveys goods and materials to and from the workface, loads and unloads mine cars and transfers materials from underground and surface conveyors to bunkers, tubs and rail trucks.
  • Operates heading, ripping and cutting-loading machines to remove material from working face and monitors conveyor carrying away loose material.
  • Erects timber or metal supports to shore up tunnel and assists tunnel miner with the excavation of vertical shafts and underground tunnels.
  • Assembles drilling and cutting tools, operates controls to start machines and to regulate the speed and pressure of cutting and drilling.
  • Inspects blasting area, drills shot holes, inserts explosives and detonates charges to loosen large pieces of rock, coal or ore.

Skills Employers are looking for

Skills Importance
Critical Thinking 58%
Active Learning 57%
Learning Strategies 56%
Monitoring 56%
Active Listening 56%
Speaking 51%
Reading Comprehension 50%
Mathematics 49%
Writing 40%
Science 36%

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