It is also important to remember that not all colliery workers were employed underground. Surface workers (as they were called as a group) were sometimes as much as one-fifth of 'all miners' but they are often forgotten in the history of coalmining. Some of these workers were craftsmen such as the farrier, a special kind of blacksmith who was in charge of shoeing the colliery horses. Another type of surface worker with a skilled and responsible job was the Banksman. His job is described here in the Special Rules of a Colliery:

...He shall have full control of the persons employed at the Pithead. and shall constantly observe the condition of the cages, ropes chains, catches and fans, and the gear used for lifting persons and things in the pit.'. . He shall not permit more than eight persons in a single cage to descend a pit ...

However, the majority of surface workers were not craftsmen or men in important positions. They were general surface labourers, many of whom were ex-colliers who through injury or old age were no longer fit enough to work below ground. Although their jobs were often very hard and the conditions they worked in unpleasant, they were the most poorly paid of all. The job of the surface workers on the screens was to inspect the coal which was tipped from the trams brought from underground onto moving belts, picking out any stone or other rubbish and sorting the lumps of coal into different sizes. This job was just as dirty and dusty as working underground.