Roof Bolters, Mining
Operate machinery to install roof support bolts in underground mine.
Most important skills
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Troubleshooting
- Active Listening
- Equipment Maintenance
- Speaking
Key knowledge
- Production and Processing
- Education and Training
- Mechanical
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Law and Government
- English Language
- Customer and Personal Service
What the work involves
- Drill bolt holes into roofs at specified distances from ribs or adjacent bolts.
- Force bolts into holes, using hydraulic mechanisms of self-propelled bolting machines.
- Remove drill bits from chucks after drilling holes, and insert bolts into chucks.
- Position safety jacks to support underground mine roofs until bolts can be installed.
- Position bolting machines, and insert drill bits into chucks.
- Rotate chucks to turn bolts and open expansion heads against rock formations.
- Tighten ends of anchored truss bolts, using turnbuckles.
- Pull down loose rock that cannot be supported.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (86.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (40.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (46.8%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Roof Bolters, Mining is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 60% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very low | Lower on dealing with the public than 99% of occupations compared | 92% of surveyed respondents chose “Not important at all” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 82% of occupations compared | — |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 98% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 98% of occupations compared | 88% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 82% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 84% of occupations compared | 27% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 5.07%
- Contact with others most of the time: 38.73%
- Constant contact with others: 56.2%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 92.04%
- Fairly important: 6.78%
- Important: 1.18%
- Very important: 0%
- Extremely important: 0%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 5.07%
- Important: 6.25%
- Very important: 10.85%
- Extremely important: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 27.42%
- Very little freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Limited freedom: 6.78%
- Some freedom: 37.77%
- A lot of freedom: 12.82%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Time pressure
- Never: 1.18%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 5.78%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.07%
- Every day: 87.97%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Conflict situations
- Never: 14.27%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.07%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 38.24%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.7%
- Every day: 32.71%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 7.43%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13.09%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 25.67%
- Once a week or more but not every day: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Every day: 27.42%
n = 15, Incumbent 07/2017
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 14.98%
- Fairly serious: 5.13%
- Serious: 1.19%
- Very serious: 37.76%
- Extremely serious: 40.93%
n = 14, Incumbent 07/2017
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O*NET-SOC 47-5043.00 · SOC 47-5043 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8