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Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters
Place and detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials. May perform specialized handling, storage, and accounting procedures.
Other titles employers use
Blast Hole Driller · Blaster · Explosive Technician · Powderman · Unexploded Ordnance Quality Control Officer · Blast Setter · Dynamite Shooter · Dynamiter
Inside the work
What you would actually do.
6 responsibilities that define the role, before job titles and workplaces change the details.
- Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
- Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns to time sequences of explosions.
- Place safety cones around blast areas to alert other workers of danger zones, and signal workers as necessary to ensure that they clear blast sites prior to explosions.
- Place explosive charges in holes or other spots; then detonate explosives to demolish structures or to loosen, remove, or displace earth, rock, or other materials.
- Insert, pack, and pour explosives, such as dynamite, ammonium nitrate, black powder, or slurries into blast holes; then shovel drill cuttings, admit water into boreholes, and tamp material to compact charges.
- Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
Who it suits
Would this work hold your attention?
This career often appeals to people drawn to practical, organizing and analytical work.
- Practical
- Building, repairing, using tools, or working outdoors
- Organizing
- Creating order, checking details, and keeping work accurate
- Analytical
- Investigating questions, testing ideas, and solving problems
Skills and strengths
What you would get good at.
Compare the skills the work relies on, the subjects behind it, and the abilities that make it easier to learn.
Core skills
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
Subjects to know
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
- Administration and Management
Useful strengths
- Problem Sensitivity
- Manual Dexterity
- Near Vision
- Oral Comprehension
- Deductive Reasoning
Working day
Picture yourself doing it.
These measures show how much of the day involves people, movement, conversation, and hands-on work.
| Measure | Out of 5 | What that means here |
|---|---|---|
| Close to other people | 3.6 | Shared rooms, but not shoulder to shoulder |
| On your feet | 4.3 | Standing or moving for most of it |
| Talking face to face | 4.8 | Continuous — the job is conversations |
| Working with your hands | 4.5 | Handling tools, instruments or materials |
Preparation
How people prepare for this work.
Employers usually ask for a high school diploma. Other routes may also lead into the field.
- High school or less 67%
- A certificate or some college 29%
- A two-year degree 4%
Tools of the work
Technology you may use.
- Computer aided design CAD software
- Geographic information system
- Spreadsheet software
- Office suite software
- Electronic mail software
- Presentation software
- Word processing software
- Analytical or scientific software
Opportunity near you
See where this work is growing.
Choose a state to compare the size of the field, annual openings, and expected hiring change.
- People doing this work
- 440
- Job openings each year
- 40
- Expected hiring change, 2022–2032
- —
Compare every available state
| State | People doing it | Job openings each year | Expected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 440 | 40 | — |
| Indiana | 380 | 30 | — |
| Texas | 370 | 40 | 8.8% |
| Pennsylvania | 230 | 20 | — |
| West Virginia | 230 | 20 | 4.5% |
| Florida | 210 | 20 | 23.5% |
| Kentucky | 210 | 20 | −4.5% |
| Tennessee | 210 | 20 | 31.3% |
| Missouri | 170 | 20 | −5.6% |
| Michigan | 140 | 10 | −6.7% |
| Virginia | 140 | 10 | −6.7% |
| Nevada | 130 | 10 | 44.4% |
| Illinois | 110 | 10 | 10.0% |
| Minnesota | 110 | 10 | 10.0% |
| Maryland | 100 | 10 | — |
| New Mexico | 100 | 10 | 11.1% |
| Alaska | 90 | 10 | 12.5% |
| Utah | 90 | 10 | 12.5% |
| Alabama | 80 | 10 | −11.1% |
| Kansas | 80 | 10 | 14.3% |
| Wyoming | 80 | 10 | 14.3% |
| Colorado | 70 | 10 | 16.7% |
| Iowa | 70 | 10 | — |
| Wisconsin | 70 | 10 | 16.7% |
| Montana | 50 | 10 | 25.0% |
| Puerto Rico | 50 | 0 | — |
| Louisiana | 40 | 0 | 33.3% |
| Ohio | 40 | 0 | — |
| Nebraska | 20 | 0 | — |
| New Jersey | 10 | 0 | — |
Career to college
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