According to the statistics, roof and side fall accidents often occur and jeopardize greatly in coal mines. The variation of the strain and stress in the surrounding rocks of the mine roadway can predict the accident. How to obtain the strain and stress is the key point of the prediction. This paper provides a method on the case. Firstly the principle of monitoring stress in surrounding rocks of mine roadway was introduced by measuring the variation of the coal body displacement and strain periodically. Then based on the above principle, an intrinsic safety mine stress data recorder was developed. The recorder was used to realize measurement and record of key parameters in explosive atmosphere circumstance. The hardware and software of the data recorder were expatiated in detailed. The data recorder had been applied in coal mines. The practice indicated that the recorded data was reliable and valid, which provided an approach for stress monitoring in explosive circumstance and can provide decision-making basis for roof and side fall accidents prevention and coal roof security control.