What a Frontline Supervisor Does
The supervisor as the link between the plan and the people who do the work.
8 min
Activities: 0 of 2
On every oil and gas site, someone stands between the plan and the work. Managers and engineers decide what must be done this week. The crew does the work with their hands. The frontline supervisor turns the plan into safe, correct work on the ground, shift after shift.
The job has many names. On a drilling rig it may be the driller or an assistant to the toolpusher. In a plant it may be the lead operator or the shift supervisor. On a construction or maintenance job it is often the foreman or the lead technician. The title changes. The core of the job does not.
A frontline supervisor directs a crew, from a few people to a larger team, and is the first level of management that the crew sees every day. Most supervisors were promoted from the crew they now lead. They were chosen because they were good at the work. Now they must be good at getting the work done through other people.
The same job in three settings
An assistant to the toolpusher on a land rig in Western Kazakhstan plans the night’s pipe handling with the driller, checks that the floor crew know the sequence, watches the work from the drill floor and reports progress to the toolpusher at the end of the shift.
Three things every supervisor does
- Plans and organises. Before work starts, the supervisor knows what the job needs: people, tools, permits, materials and time.
- Leads people. The supervisor gives instructions, checks understanding, watches the work, corrects mistakes and recognises good work.
- Controls and reports. The supervisor checks that the job is done to standard, closes it out properly and tells the next shift and the manager what happened.
Safety runs through all three. It is not a fourth task added on top. A well-planned job, led well and checked well, is usually a safe job.
Which statement best describes the frontline supervisor’s main job?