An experienced underground worker who patrolled the old, worked-out sections of a coal mine. Their primary job was to ensure that return airways remained open and that explosive firedamp was not accumulating in the goaf. They also built pack walls and repaired timbering to keep the ventilation circuit intact across the waste areas.
Heard on the job
Send the wasteman into the old south district to check the seals, we're seeing a drop in pressure on the return.