Job description Heavy Equipment Operator near Toronto (ON)

Find out what work is like for a heavy equipment operator in Canada. This work description is applicable to all Heavy equipment operators (except crane) (NOC 73400).

Heavy equipment operators

Description

Heavy equipment operators operate heavy equipment used in the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, airports, gas and oil pipelines, tunnels, buildings and other structures; in surface mining and quarrying activities; and in material handling work. They are employed by construction companies, heavy equipment contractors, public works departments and pipeline, logging, cargo-handling and other companies. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Job duties

  • Operate heavy equipment such as backhoes, bulldozers, loaders and graders to excavate, move, load and grade earth, rock, gravel or other materials during construction and related activities
  • Operate bulldozers or other heavy equipment to clear brush and stumps prior to logging activities and to build roads at logging and surface mining sites
  • Operate heavy equipment with pile driver head to drive piling into earth to provide support for buildings, bridges or other structures
  • Operate heavy dredging equipment to deepen waterways or reclaim earth fill
  • Operate heavy paving and surfacing equipment to lay, spread or compact concrete, asphalt and other surface materials during highway and road construction
  • Operate power shovels to excavate rock, ore or other materials from open-pit mines, strip mines, quarries or construction pits
  • Operate heavy equipment to move, load and unload cargo
  • Conduct pre-operational checks on equipment and clean, lubricate and refill equipment.

Job titles

  • backhoe operator
  • bulldozer operator
  • excavator operator
  • gradall operator
  • grader operator
  • heavy equipment operator
  • heavy equipment operator apprentice
  • loader operator - construction
  • side boom tractor operator
  • surface mining equipment operator

Related occupations

Source National Occupational Classification

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