UK AI Exposure · Process, plant and machine operatives
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 genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.
If you're in this role, here's what to do now
You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.
Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where we start — flip the toggle to 'With tools' to see what AI plus the right context can compress.
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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.
Most roles have at least three wedges where AI plus the right tools removes real time. For this role the labelling doesn't surface obvious ones, so we'd start with the highest-stakes tasks below and figure out 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.
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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.
Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →
The full task breakdown
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.
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.
Where humans still hold the line
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.
Where humans still hold the line
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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Methodology
This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.
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