The deputies when I was a miner carried a stick like a badge of office.
It was used for ramming the clay on top of the explosive charge in a drilled hole.
It was round and about 4'long, and slightly wider at the end to better fit the hole that contained the charge.

Another badge of office was that they had a tighter focus headlamp and a Davy Lamp to test for explosive gas/'firedamp' before firing.
The only people who were allowed to fire shots were deputies and shotfirers. Careful, responsible men.

Well over half a century ago, now, and a coalfield 200 miles away from there, but the standards were national.