Operate excavation equipment.

Operate excavation equipment. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 4 occupations and seen in 10 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Operate construction or excavation equipment. in Controlling Machines and Processes .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 9 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 0 (0%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Move levers to position dredges for excavation, to engage hydraulic pumps, to raise and lower suction booms, and to control rotation of cutterheads. · Dredge Operators · importance 4.8 · no direct exposure
• Move levers, depress foot pedals, and turn dials to operate power machinery, such as power shovels, stripping shovels, scraper loaders, or backhoes. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 4.6 · no direct exposure
• Start and stop engines to operate equipment. · Dredge Operators · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Stop gathering arms when cars are full. · Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining · importance 4.4 · no direct exposure
• Start power winches that draw in or let out cables to change positions of dredges, or pull in and let out cables manually. · Dredge Operators · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Drive machines into piles of material blasted from working faces. · Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining · importance 4.3 · no direct exposure
• Operate machinery to perform activities such as backfilling excavations, vibrating or breaking rock or concrete, or making winter roads. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Adjust dig face angles for varying overburden depths and set lengths. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Drive machines to work sites. · Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining · importance 3.7 · no direct exposure
• Operate heavy equipment, such as backhoes. · 47-3013.00

Occupations that perform this

• Dredge Operators
• Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
• Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining
• 47-3013.00

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-operate-excavation-equipment,
  title  = {Operate excavation equipment.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/operate-excavation-equipment}
}