With the exception of those who reported lower back pain, most participants were not taking time off work to deal with their pain. This may indicate the potential for higher levels of presenteeism within the coal-mining population. Workers in high-demand low resourced jobs have previously been reported to be more likely to attend work while sick [47]. However, if sickness or injury affects the workers’ perceptions about their ability to perform work tasks competently or safely, this can lead to increased incidence of stress, anxiety, and depression[48]. Demerouti and co-workers [49] caution that presenteeism may ultimately lead to further deterioration in employee’s mental and physical condition and should be discouraged. Further examination of job types, daily exposure to tasks, and the development of musculoskeletal pain and distress over time in the mining industry is important to understand these findings.