The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word BLASTING
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
B
L
A
S
T
I
N
G
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Criticising/action of quarry workers?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case criticising/action of quarry workers? = blasting.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does BLASTING mean?
BLASTING verb- To make an impression on, by making a loud blast or din.
- To make a loud noise.
- To shatter, as if by an explosion.
- To open up a hole in, usually by means of a sudden and imprecise method (such as an explosion).
- To curse; to damn.
- (sci-fi) To shoot, especially with an energy weapon (as opposed to one which fires projectiles).
- To shoot; kick the ball in hope of scoring a goal.
- To criticize or reprimand severely; to verbally discipline or punish.
- To blight or wither.
- To be blighted or withered.
- To blow, for example on a trumpet.
- To run a nucleotide sequence (for nucleic acids) or an amino acid sequence (for proteins) through a BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool).
- A planned explosion, as in mining.
- The act by which something is blasted, or blighted.