Duties and Responsibilities of an Overman

Ask any DGMS examiner what separates a pass from a fail in the overman paper, and you will hear the same answer: does the candidate understand what an overman is actually supposed to do? You cannot supervise a district if you do not know where your responsibility starts and stops.

This chapter is the foundation, so it is worth reading slowly. Below, the duties come from Regulation 43 (as quoted in standard exam-prep material), rewritten in plain English, then boiled down into a flow chart, a short exam answer and a few practice questions. If you are just starting out, our guide to training for mining sirdar and overman in India explains the route to the certificate.

Which regulation number? The text here follows Regulation 43, as in the study material. Under the Coal Mines Regulations, 2017, the overman’s duties appear as Regulation 47, in a rearranged form. The ideas are the same, but sub-clause numbers and some wording differ, so use whichever version your syllabus asks for.

The Big Picture in One Sentence

An overman has responsible charge and control of a part of the mine (his district), carries out the duties the manager assigns, and makes the inspections and reports the regulations require. Everything he does serves three goals: proper working, safety and discipline in his district.

Fig. 1: The overman’s duties at a glance.

Reg. 43 in Plain English

1. Charge, tracing, inspections and enforcement

Charge and control. Subject to the orders of superior officials, he is responsible for his part of the mine and does the duties the manager assigns.
Tracing. While on duty he carries a tracing (plan) of the workings of his district and keeps it up to date.
Inspections and reports. He inspects his district and writes the reports the regulations require.
Subordinates. He makes sure the subordinate officials and competent persons in his district do their own duties properly.
Enforcement. He enforces the provisions of the Act, the regulations and the orders made under them. Subject to the control of the manager and the undermanager or assistant manager, he gives whatever directions are needed to ensure compliance, and to secure the safety of the district and the safety and proper discipline of the people working in it.

2. Supplies

Enough timber, brattice and other necessaries for safe working must be kept in convenient places in the district.

3. Ventilation and discipline

Every air-crossing, stopping, door, brattice and other ventilation device must be kept in good order.
Ventilation in his district must be effective. Where brattices or air pipes are used to ventilate working places, he sees that they are kept sufficiently advanced so that enough air reaches every working place. (The book’s flow chart gives the figure as within 4.5 m of the faces.)
He has the power to send out of the mine any person under his charge who breaks, or tries to break, the Act, regulations or orders, or ignores a safety direction. He must report this in writing to the manager.

4. Haulage

All tracks and tramlines are properly laid, graded, and ballasted or otherwise packed.
Manholes on haulage roadways are kept safe, clear of obstruction and properly whitewashed.
Stop-blocks, runaway switches and other safety devices are fixed and used as required. Drags or back-stays are provided and regularly used behind tubs ascending an incline. Enough suitable sprags are supplied where tubs are loaded on a gradient or lowered on a gradient by hand.
If any ropes, chains, signals, brakes, jig wheels, posts or other apparatus in his district are found unsafe, he stops their use forthwith.

Fig. 2: Haulage safety devices the overman must see are fixed and used (illustrative).

5. Travelling roadway

Except for inspection, examination and repairs, every person other than an official or a haulage attendant must travel by the travelling roadway. This is the overman’s responsibility to enforce.

6. Danger

Any danger he observes, or that is reported to him, gets prompt attention for its removal. Dangerous places are adequately fenced off.

7. Safety lamps

Under the direction of the manager, approved safety lamps are used and naked lights excluded wherever and whenever there is danger from inflammable gas. In the flow chart, this duty is linked to mining sirdars, shotfirers and competent persons.

8. Time, presence and handover

He devotes the whole of his time to his duties and visits each working place as often as necessary or possible.
Except for a justifiable cause, he does not leave the district until he has finished the required inspections and other duties, or a duly appointed substitute has relieved him.
If the mine works in a continuous succession of shifts, he confers with the official who succeeds him and passes on the information needed for the safety of the district and its people.

9. Shift report

At the end of the shift he records, in a bound-paged book kept for the purpose, a general report on how he performed all his duties during the shift. It includes anything about the proper working of the mine and the safety and discipline of persons in his district.

Short Exam Answer (5 to 6 lines)

Q. State the duties and responsibilities of an overman.
An overman has responsible charge and control of his district under the orders of the manager. He must keep an up-to-date tracing, inspect the district and write the required reports, and see that subordinate officials and competent persons do their duties. He enforces the Act and regulations, sees that supplies, ventilation devices, haulage equipment and safety lamps are in order, makes sure persons travel only by the travelling roadway, removes dangers and fences dangerous places, and sends out of the mine anyone who breaks the rules. At the end of his shift he confers with the incoming overman and records a report in a bound-paged book.

Quick Revision Table

Topic	Remember
Tracing	Carried while on duty and kept up to date
Supplies	Timber, brattice and other necessaries in convenient places
Ventilation devices	Air-crossings, stoppings, doors, brattices kept in good order
Brattices / air pipes	Kept sufficiently advanced (book’s chart: within 4.5 m of faces)
Tracks	Laid, graded, ballasted or packed
Manholes	Safe, clear, whitewashed
Incline safety	Stop-blocks, runaway switches, drags or back-stays, sprags
Unsafe apparatus	Stop use forthwith
Persons travelling	By the travelling roadway only
Lamps	Approved safety lamps; naked lights excluded where gas is feared
Rule breakers	Can be sent out of the mine; reported in writing to the manager
End of shift	Confer with the successor; record in a bound-paged book