A laborer ( or labourer) is a person who works in

manual labor Manual labour (in Commonwealth English, manual labor in American English) or manual work is physical work done by humans, in contrast to labour by machines and working animals. It is most literally work done with the hands (the word ''manual'' ...

typed within the

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

industry. There is a generic

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

laborer which is defined separately as a factory worker. Laborers are in a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

. Industries employing laborers include building things such as roads, road paving, buildings, bridges, tunnels, pipelines civil and industrial, and railway tracks. Laborers work with blasting tools,

hand tools A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, files, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, hacksaws, drills, an ...

power tool A power tool is a tool that is actuator, actuated by an additional engine, power source and mechanism (engineering), mechanism other than the solely manual labour, manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric ...

s, air tools, and small

heavy equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

, and act as assistants to tradesmen as well such as operators or cement masons. The 1st century BC engineer

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

writes that a good crew of laborers is just as valuable as any other aspect of construction. Other than the addition of

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek 'wind, breath') is the use of gas or pressurized air in mechanical systems. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located a ...

s, laborer practices have changed little. With the introduction of field technologies, the laborers have been quick to adapt to the use of this technology as being laborers'

workforce In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

Tools and equipment

The following tools are considered a minimum for a laborer to keep with them:

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...

, pliers w/ side-cutters,

utility knife A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd., , p. 1 Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with dur ...

tape measure A tape measure or measuring tape is a long, flexible ruler used to measure length or distance. It usually consists of a ribbon of cloth, plastic, fibreglass, or metal (usually - hard steel alloy) strip with linear measurement markings. Types Ta ...

locking pliers Locking pliers (also called Vise-Grips, Mole wrench or Mole grips) are pliers that can be locked into position, using an "over-center" cam action. Locking pliers are available with many different jaw styles, such as needle-nose pliers, wrenches ...

, crescent wrench,

screwdriver A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. Description A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver ...

, margin trowel, carpenter's pencil or

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in sub ...

, tool belt and one pouch (bag). In addition: a five gallon bucket with additional tools, toolbelt suspenders, water jug and lunchbox are recommended. Most

safety equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

that is consumed or work specific, for example

hard hat A hard hat is a type of helmet predominantly used in hazardous environments such as industrial or construction sites to protect the Human head, head from injury due to falling objects (such as tools and debris), impact with other objects, and ...

safety glasses Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 14 ...

hearing protection A hearing protection device, also known as a HPD, is an ear protection device worn in or over the ears while exposed to hazardous noise and provide hearing protection to help prevent noise-induced hearing loss. HPDs reduce the level of the no ...

, gloves, fall protection,

high-visibility clothing High-visibility clothing, sometimes shortened to hi vis or hi viz, is any clothing worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matt property or a color that is easily discernible from any background. It is most commonly worn on the torso an ...

, concrete boots,

respirator A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling hazardous atmospheres including lead, lead fumes, vapors, gases and particulate matter such as dusts and airborne pathogens such as viruses. There are two main categories o ...

dust mask A dust mask is a flexible paper pad held over the nose and mouth made for protection against ''chronically'' toxic nuisance dusts, like from occupational exposure to plant dusts like hay. They are not intended to provide protection from most ai ...

and toe guards are provided by the employer as part of

construction site safety Construction site safety is an aspect of construction-related activities concerned with protecting construction site workers and others from death, injury, disease or other health-related risks. Construction is an often hazardous, predominantly lan ...

. Personal safety equipment, for example, full leather boots (some long-time laborers believe steel toes are dangerous on the construction site; it is better to have crushed toes than toes cut off by the crushed steel - a belief proven wrong by several studies), high-strength pants -

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

(some modify thighs with a sacrificial second layer of jean fabric cut from an old pair) -

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

lip balm Lip balm or lip salve is a wax-like substance applied to the lips to moisturize and relieve chapped or dry lips, angular cheilitis, stomatitis, or cold sores. Lip balm often contains beeswax or carnauba wax, camphor, cetyl alcohol, lanolin, par ...

, and climate-specific

outerwear Outerwear is clothing and accessories worn outdoors, or clothing designed to be worn as protective layers outside other garments, as opposed to underwear. It can be worn for formal or casual occasions, or as warm clothing during winter. List of ou ...

, are provided by the individual (unless laborers are instructed to work in a climate different from what they typically reside in, for example, high elevation).

Types of work

Some of the work done by laborers includes: *

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

–

shotcrete Shotcrete, gunite (), or sprayed concrete is concrete or mortar conveyed through a hose and pneumatically projected at high velocity onto a surface. This construction technique was invented by Carl Akeley and first used in 1907. The concr ...

, gunite, grouting and

formwork Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...

demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

– concrete cutting, pavement breaking, cutting and removal of interior building parts (framing members, doors, windows, wiring, piping, etc.) *

environmental remediation Environmental remediation is the cleanup of hazardous substances dealing with the removal, treatment and containment of pollution or contaminants from Natural environment, environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment. Remediation may be ...

and

hazardous waste Hazardous waste is waste that must be handled properly to avoid damaging human health or the environment. Waste can be hazardous because it is Toxicity, toxic, Chemical reaction, reacts violently with other chemicals, or is Corrosion, corrosive, ...

fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...

s and

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

Mowing A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reaper ...

and keeping construction site free of weeds * street sweeping *Cleaning of the construction site and trash removal *Setting up temporary lights, heaters and other things needed on site * hod carrier –

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

ers and

fireproofing Fireproofing is rendering something (Building, structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be u ...

* paving – white paving formwork, traffic control, striping, signs *

piping Within industry, piping is a system of pipes used to convey fluids (liquids and gases) from one location to another. The engineering discipline of piping design studies the efficient transport of fluid. Industrial process piping (and accomp ...

–

water pipe Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water deliv ...

, sewer and

storm drain A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), highway drain, surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from i ...

*field

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

*general digging and grading *

tunnels A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

–

drilling Drilling is a cutting process where a drill bit is spun to cut a hole of circular cross section (geometry), cross-section in solid materials. The drill bit is usually a rotary Cutting tool (machining), cutting tool, often multi-point. The bit i ...

and blasting *Dry utilities – Electrical and communications conduit *loading and offloading – handling of physical goods, such as construction materials

Pay

As a manual labor occupation, to attract free workers the wages paid to laborers are higher than those paid in general to other types of unskilled workers (see dirty, dangerous and demeaning). In the United States, a union laborer earns equal or greater than most work available to anyone with a bachelor's degree. This is one of a few fields where someone without a high school diploma can still earn a living wage. Union, heavy construction and highway construction laborers earn on average (2008 US) $25.47/h compared to 13.72/h for non-union laborers. In addition to paid earnings, union laborers enjoy the benefits of medical insurance, vacation pay, pension plans, representation and vocational schools; totaling $45/hr (2012 US) and some with special skills earn 'over-rate' wages. It is not uncommon for young civil engineers, construction managers and construction engineers typical salary of (2007 US$) 40,000 to 60,000 to fall short of their union laborers average wages of 50,000 to 80,000. However, unlike engineers, laborers are not usually employed full-time year-round and face significant hazards. The additional pay laborers receive is often balanced out by the lesser unemployment checks they receive while out of work and the disability checks they receive while injured—often debilitated for life. That is if unemployment and injury insurance is provided, which is often not the case unless they are labor union members. Engineers are also not immune to being out of work. In heavy civil work, some are employed on a project basis and mental injuries due to stress are a different but debilitating hazard. Because of the wide range of skills and ability to simply provide muscle, laborers often earn side-work as independent contractors and ''under-the-table'' work. In construction, the pay for laborers is low enough that planning problems can be solved by "throwing laborers at it." This can become a toxic and dangerous brew of unplanned work that slides forward on the blood and sweat of hard-working laborers—injury rates often soar. The value of work put in place by laborers and the value of avoided rework and increased efficiencies produced by the engineers' planning is a balance of resource utilization on any large project.

Hazards and conditions

There are dangers associated with laboring. Many laborers are severely injured or killed in accidents each year while performing work duties. Many who work as laborers for even a short period of time will suffer from permanent work injuries such as:

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of articular cartilage, joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affect ...

, back injuries, eye injury,

head injury A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

chemical burn A chemical burn occurs when living tissue is exposed to a corrosive substance (such as a strong acid, base or oxidizer) or a cytotoxic agent (such as mustard gas, lewisite or arsine). Chemical burns follow standard burn classification and m ...

( lime sensitivity),

lung disease The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syst ...

, missing fingernails and skin scars.

Alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, drug use, and

drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

are common although most companies require

drug screening A drug test (also often toxicology screen or tox screen) is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs o ...

for all new hires. If a laborer is injured on the job they are immediately given a drug test. If the test results are positive then they are ineligible for any

Workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

benefits. There is a gray area for the use of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

due to

medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...

prescriptions. Some who have been dismissed for failing a drug test while possessing a prescription have been later reinstated with pay as having been wrongfully terminated.

Collective bargaining

The Laborers' International Union of North America ( LIUNA) represents laborers on public and private projects in North America. Some of the business representatives are laborers who have been so severely injured they can no longer labor. With a phone call and a good reason they will be on-site the next morning asking questions and demanding apologies for mistreatment of laborers.

Images

File:(Albi) Un travailleur à Céleyran - Toulouse-Lautrec 1882 - Musée Toulouse-Lautrec.jpg, 'Un ouvrier à Céleyran,' by

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

(1882) File:Laborer Resting, by Jean-François Millet (II).jpg, Laborer Resting, by

Jean-François Millet Jean-François Millet (; 4 October 1814 – 20 January 1875) was a French artist and one of the founders of the Barbizon school in rural France. Millet is noted for his paintings of peasant farmers and can be categorized as part of the Realis ...

(II) (1910) File:Brick kiln workers (1).jpg, Laborer at a brick kiln (2018) File:Stone laborer in Bangladesh.jpg, Child laborers (2011) File:Laborers at Candi Sukuh, 2016-10-13.jpg, Laborers (2016) File:Indian laborer at Boulder Dam during construction - NARA - 298637.tif, Boulder Dam project (1935) File:(1919) pic05 - Chinese laborers constructing a drainage at an American aviation supply field in France.jpg, Laborers at an American aviation field in France (1919) File:Laborers.jpg, Fab-yard laborers at a fab plant (2017) File:Saigonese laborers.jpg, Laborer crew (early 1900s) File:Laborers 2.jpg, Fab-yard laborers (2017) File:Guano Chinese laborers.jpg, Guano laborers (bird guano was used for munitions) (1865) File:Chinese Railroad Laborers.jpg, Central Pacific Railroad laborers (1867) File:American Indian laborers (1906).png, Laborer crew (1906) File:Panama Canal laborers ca 1900.jpg, Laborers (early 1900s) File:Afghan laborers building a school in 2005.jpg, Laborers (early 2005) File:France. Standing in a bog of cement, laborer wiring on the stiffeners. Workers in background have received load of... - NARA - 541671.tif, Concrete laborers (early 1950s) File:Laborers at a Russian boarding house by Lewis Hines, Homestead, PA, 1909 (cropped).jpg, Pre-communist revolution laborers in Russia (1909) File:Female laborers transporting volcanic sand for making concrete in Bali.jpeg, Laborers (2008) File:Afghan day laborers help Marines fill sandbags (5224388587).jpg, Laborers (2010) File:Portugal. On the site of the new mill, a laborer puts his shoulder to the job of dumping a loaded cart full of dirt.... - NARA - 541755.tif, Laborers (late 1940s) File:FMIB 44419 Native Indian Laborers--Thlinket Packing Co.jpeg, Laborers (1908) File:Laborers (4596808922).jpg, Unionized concrete road laborers (2010) File:Laborers at the Top.jpg, Building laborer crew (2017) File:Road Worker in Hokkaido Japan.jpg, Road maintenance worker in Hokkaido Japan (2012)

References

{{Authority control Builders' labourers' trade unions Construction and extraction occupations Production occupations