Grave Digger

What is a Grave Digger?

Duties

Here are the tasks to be performed by a grave digger on a regular basis:

• Use tools or equipment like shovels, tractors, or lawn mowers in the process of digging graves to the proper level.
• Provide assistance with lifting and accurately placing coffins on lowering devices into the assigned grave.
• Frequently cleaning and removing ice or debris from cemetery grounds, utilizing power trimmers, chainsaws, axes, shovels, rakes, blowers, vacuums, etc.

Day In The Life

If you are comfortable with death and enjoy working outdoors for long hours, then working as a gravedigger is a good career prospect. You will be working in landscaped cemeteries with the primary task of digging graves for coffins to be placed. While some professionals still prefer the old school method of digging with a shovel or axe, most have upgraded to excavation equipment to complete the job in less than half the time. While manual digging can take up to eight hours, with a backhoe, you would complete digging a grave in 30 minutes.

Typically, gravediggers are supplied with a specified coffin size and the scheduled day of the funeral, since digging should be completed at least one hour before the ceremony time. Due to the sensitive nature of the proceedings, the dirt is loaded into a vehicle and covertly removed from the cemetery. Once mourners leave after the ceremony, it is the grave digger’s job to return with the dirt to fill the grave and prepare the site according to established protocols. In this role, you must be aware of the type of soil you are digging in, which will influence how long it takes and the depth of the grave.

Every plot in a cemetery is optimally planned to increase capacity of available grave sites. In certain cases, graves are placed only five inches apart from the next, so a gravedigger must be very accurate and able to complete digging without displacing or affecting the next grave. In addition, digging a big hole is not easy since one has to be careful of underlying rocks, frozen soil and roots from trees. In colder climates, a burial could be delayed till spring since the ground must thaw before a gravedigger can complete his or her task.

Work Schedule

As a grave digger, your working hours will range between 9 am to 5 pm, from Monday to Friday. On an occasional basis, you may have to work over the weekends and remain outdoors in all sorts of weather. Overtime is not unusual, since staff have to sacrifice holidays and weekends when necessary to meet the requirements of the cemetery. You might also be called back to the work site in case of emergency overtime work. The role is physically demanding and you should be in good health to sustain this profession, as it involves using heavy machinery and equipment.

Growth Of The Job

As per the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for grounds maintenance workers such as a grave digger is projected to rise by 20% during the 2010-2020 decade. This marks an increase of 254,600 potential jobs, which is far higher than the average growth rate for other professions in the nation. Once you gain sufficient experience, you can be promoted to supervisor, Cemetery Caretaker Technician or Burial Grounds Custodian.

Typical Employers

While digging graves may not be the most exciting career choice, it provides great job security and is a rapidly growing sector. You can find employment at local cemeteries, funeral homes or via government bodies such as the US Department of Veteran Affairs. This particular department oversees the military cemetery system in the country. Some municipalities have employment advertisements for grave digger positions online and at their employment office at City Hall.