Mining and quarry workers
and related operatives
Quarry workers erect supports in underground workings, set and detonate explosives to loosen rocks and set up and operate drilling equipment to extract coal and other minerals from the ground, and operate machinery to wash, crush or separate stone and ores.
- Employees (UK)
- -
- Median annual pay
- -
- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 0.6/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 0.6/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- - -
Higher exposure than 8% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.
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Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.
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Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
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Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.
-
Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.
-
Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Continuous Mining Machine Operators" (47-5041.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 15 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
15 of 15 tasks
Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.
Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.
Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.
Operate mining machines to gather coal and convey it to floors or shuttle cars.
Drive machines into position at working faces.
Move controls to start and regulate movement of conveyors and to start and position drill cutters or torches.
Reposition machines to make additional holes or cuts.
Determine locations, boundaries, and depths of holes or channels to be cut.
Install casings to prevent cave-ins.
Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions.
Scrape or wash conveyors, using belt scrapers or belt washers, to minimize dust production.
Move levers to raise and lower hydraulic safety bars supporting roofs above machines until other workers complete framing.
Repair, oil, and adjust machines, and change cutting teeth, using wrenches.
Apply new technologies developed to minimize the environmental impact of coal mining.
Guide and assist crews laying track and resetting supports and blocking.
Tasks via O*NET "Continuous Mining Machine Operators" (47-5041.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 15 tasks, with tools
Even with tools, no tasks here are labelled as something AI can do today. The work is judgment, presence, or context-heavy enough that the academic labelling sees no leverage.
What still needs a person
15 of 15 tasks
Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.
Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.
Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.
Operate mining machines to gather coal and convey it to floors or shuttle cars.
Drive machines into position at working faces.
Move controls to start and regulate movement of conveyors and to start and position drill cutters or torches.
Reposition machines to make additional holes or cuts.
Determine locations, boundaries, and depths of holes or channels to be cut.
Install casings to prevent cave-ins.
Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions.
Scrape or wash conveyors, using belt scrapers or belt washers, to minimize dust production.
Move levers to raise and lower hydraulic safety bars supporting roofs above machines until other workers complete framing.
Repair, oil, and adjust machines, and change cutting teeth, using wrenches.
Apply new technologies developed to minimize the environmental impact of coal mining.
Guide and assist crews laying track and resetting supports and blocking.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Process, plant and machine operatives, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons