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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Transportation
- English Language
What the work involves
- Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.
- Document geological formations encountered during work.
- Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
- Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, and drills, in order to bore charge holes.
- Signal crane operators to move equipment.
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (62.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (45.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (25%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Lower on contact with others than 51% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 68% of occupations compared | 26% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 50% of occupations compared | 46% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 79% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Limited freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 84% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 70% of occupations compared | 35% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 64% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 92% of occupations compared | 71% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 12.5%
- Contact with others most of the time: 37.5%
- Constant contact with others: 50%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 17.39%
- Fairly important: 21.74%
- Important: 21.74%
- Very important: 26.09%
- Extremely important: 13.04%
n = 23, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 4.17%
- Important: 8.33%
- Very important: 41.67%
- Extremely important: 45.83%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 4.17%
- Limited freedom: 41.67%
- Some freedom: 29.17%
- A lot of freedom: 25%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 4.35%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 8.7%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 34.78%
- Every day: 52.17%
n = 23, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 30.43%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 34.78%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.09%
- Every day: 8.7%
n = 23, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 12.5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 37.5%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 33.33%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.67%
- Every day: 0%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 06/2006
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 12.5%
- Fairly serious: 4.17%
- Serious: 8.33%
- Very serious: 4.17%
- Extremely serious: 70.83%
n = 24, Occupational Expert 06/2006
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O*NET-SOC 47-5032.00 · SOC 47-5032 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8