Hoist and Winch Operators
Career Cluster
Energy
Focuses on oil, gas, wind and other energy sources. In this field, you will design, plan, maintain, and distribute energy.
Learn more about this clusterAt a glance
Expected pay range
Expected pay range
This represents the median earnings for this career in the selected county or state. In the range shown, 25% of workers earned less than the bottom salary and 25% earned more than the top salary. Data is provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Monthly cost of living
These numbers give you an idea of how much you can spend each month on common expenses with this salary. Percentages are the average a person with no children spends according to data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (external link opens new tab) These numbers are a starting point and will differ person to person.
Your actual expenses may differ from those listed. You’ll need to account for the amount taken out in taxes each month. Learn more about income tax expenses. (external link opens new tab) Your student loan payments may also differ. To calculate your student loan payments, use the federal student loan repayment estimator. (external link opens new tab)
About hoist and winch operators
What they do
Operate or tend hoists or winches to lift and pull loads using power-operated cable equipment.
Other titles
Hoist Operator, Hoistman, Material Handler, Service Operator, Winch Derrick Operator
Skills they need
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Operations Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Operation and Control - Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Licenses and Certifications they may hold
How to decide which one is right? That depends on an individual’s career path, specialty, and resources.
Certifications
Certifications may be available for this career and can help build knowledge and skills in specific job roles. Explore available certifications (external link opens new tab)
Similar careers
View careers in the same field as hoist and winch operators.
Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
Better pay
Median salary for this career is higher than the median salary of all careers in the county selected. Salary data is provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.
Riggers
In demand
In demand careers have high-growth, high-demand, and emerging jobs critical to Texas. They are based on economic indicators like in demand industries, labor market trends, and economic conditions, provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Set up or repair rigging for construction projects, manufacturing plants, logging yards, ships and shipyards, or for the entertainment industry.
Pile Driver Operators
Better pay
Median salary for this career is higher than the median salary of all careers in the county selected. Salary data is provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Operate pile drivers mounted on skids, barges, crawler treads, or locomotive cranes to drive pilings for retaining walls, bulkheads, and foundations of structures such as buildings, bridges, and piers.
Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Operate one or several types of power construction equipment, such as motor graders, bulldozers, scrapers, compressors, pumps, derricks, shovels, tractors, or front-end loaders to excavate, move, and grade earth, erect structures, or pour concrete or other hard surface pavement. May repair and maintain equipment in addition to other duties.
- International Union of Operating Engineers (external link opens new tab)
- MHI (external link opens new tab)
- National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators (external link opens new tab)
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Material moving machine operators (external link opens new tab)
- Warehousing Education and Research Council (external link opens new tab)