1. n. [Drilling]

Any unskilled manual laborer on the rigsite. A roustabout may be part of the drilling contractor's employee workforce, or may be on location temporarily for special operations. Roustabouts are commonly hired to ensure that the skilled personnel that run an expensive drilling rig are not distracted by peripheral tasks, ranging from cleaning up location to cleaning threads to digging trenches to scraping and painting rig components. Although roustabouts typically work long hard days, this type of work can lead to more steady employment on a rig crew.

See related terms: drilling contractor,  drilling crew