Considering its current definition (see below) and the wish to be politically correct, I wonder whether the word has come to acquire any racist overtone.
What is a coal miner hewer-Ask.com. Coal miner hewer is a person who hews or cuts the coal from its natural situation. The hewer is the actual coal-digger removing it from the coal face.
Bucket-wheel excavator. Bucket-wheel excavators (BWEs) are heavy equipment used in surface mining. The primary function of BWEs is to act as a continuous digging machine in large-scale open-pit mining operations.