Construction and extraction
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.
Median pay
$61,390
Growth to 2035
0%
little or no change
Openings a year
400
Time to qualify*
3 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- Less than 5 years
Calculate your switch to explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters: 58% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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 in order 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.
- Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
- Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
Also called: Blast Hole Driller · Blaster · Explosive Technician · Powderman · Unexploded Ordnance Quality Control Officer
Outlook and AI
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters held 5,200 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 5,200 by 2035 (0%, little or no change; all jobs: +3.5%).
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