Worker Guide

Rig Crew Roles: Floorhand, Derrickhand, Driller and the Ladder Up

Every drilling rig runs on a small, fixed crew, and that crew works in shifts called tours. The people on the tour are what make the rig run safely, and each role on the crew is a defined step on a ladder that most rig hands climb one rung at a time. This guide explains each position on a drilling crew, what the work is really like, and how a new hire moves from the floor to the driller's seat.

The crew and the tours

A drilling crew is a small team, usually counted in single digits, that runs the rig around the clock. The work is organized into tours, and on most land rigs a tour runs twelve hours, with a new crew taking over at the start of each one. The rig does not stop, so each crew hands the well off at changeover in a condition the next tour can pick up safely.

Because the team is small and fixed, every member knows the others and the jobs are clearly defined. The rig depends on people who work together every day and can see a problem developing before it becomes an incident.

The roles on a drilling crew

Each position on the crew has a defined set of duties, and the duties follow the work of the rig. The titles vary a little from company to company, but the structure is consistent.

• Floorhand or roughneck. This is the entry position on the rig floor. The floorhand handles pipe, runs the tongs, works the slips, and cleans and maintains the rig floor and its equipment. Most of the physical work of a tour happens on the floor, and most rig hands start here.
• Derrickhand. The derrickhand works in the derrick or mast, especially during tripping, when the crew pulls pipe out of or runs it back into the hole. The derrickhand handles the top drive or kelly, racks the pipe, and also looks after the mud system, including the shale shakers that separate cuttings from the drilling fluid.
• Motorman. The motorman looks after the engines, generators, and mud pumps. All the rig's power flows through these systems, and the motorman keeps them running, fueled, and serviced through the tour.
• Assistant driller. The assistant driller supports the driller, takes the brake when needed, and often runs the mud system and its pumps and monitoring duties.
• Driller. The driller runs the drill floor and the brake, directs the crew, and is responsible for the drilling operation during the tour. The driller watches weight on bit, pump pressure, and hole conditions, and is the first person to react when something changes downhole.
• Toolpusher. The toolpusher supervises the whole crew and reports to the rig manager. The pusher is responsible for the rig's performance, its people, and its compliance on location.

The derrickhand works at height during tripping, so fall protection is a standing part of the job: see our guide to fall protection on rigs for the rules and the gear.

The ladder from floorhand up

Most people start at the bottom and move up as they learn. The usual path begins as a roustabout, who does general labor around the location, or directly as a floorhand. From the floor, a hand who learns the work and shows up reliably moves up to derrickhand, then to assistant driller, then to driller. With experience, a driller can move to toolpusher and beyond, into operations and management roles.

Offshore rigs run a similar ladder with the same core roles, plus positions such as crane operator that have no direct onshore equivalent. The difference is certification: offshore crews need additional training, including water survival and helicopter safety, along with whatever the operator and the regulators require.

For employers, the ladder is a retention tool. A crew member who sees a real path from floorhand to driller stays longer, and a promoted hand already knows the rig and the crew. That is why good operators document training and time on each position, and why the records have to follow the worker from job to job.

What the work is really like

Rig work is physical and the hours are long. Tours run about twelve hours, and a common rotation on many rigs is two weeks on and two weeks off. The work happens in all weather, on a steel structure that is hot in summer and cold in winter, and nearly every task on a tour involves lifting, pulling, or moving something heavy.

Safety is built into every task rather than added on top of it. The systems that protect the crew, from the brake to the slips to the iron at the wellhead, depend on people doing each task the way they were trained, every time. Fatigue is managed the same way: a crew that is rested and fed makes better decisions, which is why the rotation matters as much as the training.

How new hires get on a rig

The path onto a rig is more predictable than most people expect. Before a new hire sets foot on location, most employers require industry safety training such as SafeLand and PEC safety training, which covers the basic hazards of oil and gas work. After that comes rig-specific orientation, where the new hire learns the location's rules, the layout of the rig, and the emergency response plan.

Then comes supervised time on the floor. A new floorhand does not work alone: the first weeks are spent learning each task under the eye of the driller or an experienced hand, until the new hire can do the job safely on their own. That supervised period is where the crew decides who is going to make it, and it is also where the employer keeps the records that prove the training happened. See our new hire onboarding checklist for what a complete start looks like.

Tracking crew timesheets, training records, and field tickets from the rig is exactly the kind of paperwork that OpsFlo handles: it is software for field tickets, dispatch, approvals, timesheets, and documents, so the record for every tour stays with the job instead of living in a filing cabinet back at the office.

Sources and further reading

• OSHA eTool for oil and gas well drilling and servicing
• OSHA safety and health topic page for oil and gas well drilling
• OSHA oil and gas extraction hazards