Job Check
Hoist and Winch Operators
Operate or tend hoists or winches to lift and pull loads using power-operated cable equipment.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Signal and assist other workers loading or unloading materials.Mostly human for now
- 02Observe equipment gauges and indicators and hand signals of other workers to verify load positions or depths.Mostly human for now
- 03Start engines of hoists or winches and use levers and pedals to wind or unwind cable on drums.Mostly human for now
- 04Apply hand or foot brakes and move levers to lock hoists or winches.Mostly human for now
- 05Repair, maintain, and adjust equipment, using hand tools.Mostly human for now
- 06Tend auxiliary equipment, such as jacks, slings, cables, or stop blocks, to facilitate moving items or materials for further processing.Mostly human for now
- 07Move levers, pedals, and throttles to stop, start, and regulate speeds of hoist or winch drums in response to hand, bell, buzzer, telephone, loud-speaker, or whistle signals, or by observing dial indicators or cable marks.Mostly human for now
- 08Select loads or materials according to weight and size specifications.Mostly human for now
- 09Move or reposition hoists, winches, loads and materials, manually or using equipment and machines such as trucks, cars, and hand trucks.Mostly human for now
- 10Attach, fasten, and disconnect cables or lines to loads, materials, and equipment, using hand tools.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
0%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 17% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Above 98% of jobsin how much of this job’s physical work robots have been shown to do, from factories to homes (2026).Anthropic, 2026
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Signal and assist other workers loading or unloading materials.
- Observe equipment gauges and indicators and hand signals of other workers to verify load positions or depths.
- Start engines of hoists or winches and use levers and pedals to wind or unwind cable on drums.