A tool pusher (sometimes toolpusher or just pusher or even, when spoken of in the third person, The Push) is an occupation within the oil drilling industry. On a land

drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construction purposes, into the earth's subsurface. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill wat ...

the tool pusher may be rig manager and responsible for all operations, but on

drillship A drillship is a merchant vessel designed for use in exploratory offshore drilling of new oil and gas wells or for scientific drilling purposes. In recent years the vessels have been used in deepwater and ultra-deepwater applications, equipped ...

s and offshore

oil rigs {{about, , the mnemonic OIL RIG, Redox An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig, an apparatus for on-land oil drilling * Drillship, a floating apparatus for offshore oil drilling * ...

, tool pushers are department heads in charge of the drilling department and reporting to the

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

or Offshore Installation Manager ( OIM) depending on the company - who in turn reports to a shore-based rig manager. Other department heads include the

Chief Mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the shi ...

and

Chief Engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...

. Tool pushers are in charge of keeping the rig in all necessary tools, equipment, and supplies. They work closely in conjunction with the representative of the operating/exploration company (i.e.,

company man A company man in the petroleum industry refers to a representative of an operating/exploration company. Other terms that may be used are company representative, foreman, drill site supervisor (DSV), company consultant, rigsite leader or "well sit ...

) in regard to the actual drilling of the well. In recent times, tool pushers also have taken on somewhat of an administrative role, as they frequently do paperwork related to the rig crew regarding payroll, benefits, and related matters. Tool pushers are also responsible for coordinating services with third party companies related to the drilling of the well. Tool pushers usually start at an entry-level position (i.e., a

roustabout Roustabout (Australia/New Zealand English: rouseabout) is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who handled materials ...

roughneck Roughneck is a term for a person whose occupation is hard manual labor. The term applies across a number of industries, but is most commonly associated with the workers on a drilling rig. The ideal of the hard-working, tough roughneck has been ...

) and work their way up over time. With the advancement in offshore drilling technology, cyberbase drilling experience is usually required before a driller can be promoted to the position of tool pusher. Certifications
i.

BOSIET BOSIET stands for basic offshore safety induction and emergency training, a course created to assist in meeting the initial offshore safety training, emergency response training and assessment requirements for personnel new to the offshore, oil a ...

(Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training)
ii. Well Control Certificate (Supervisor Level, Surface/Subsea BOP Stack issued by an institution approved by IWCF)

References

Resource extraction occupations Petroleum production {{Job-stub

See also

References