Career
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
Handle explosives and blast safely.
$61,390
Median pay
+0.0%
Job growth, 2025–35
400
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- 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.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on objects & tools, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though long-term on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $61,390 a year and 400 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Well Drilling/DrillerCIP 46.0504
- Blasting/BlasterCIP 46.0505
- Construction/Heavy Equipment/Earthmoving Equipment OperationCIP 49.0202
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas$60,190 · +3.6%
- Helpers--Extraction Workers$47,730 · +1.7%
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas$67,890 · +0.8%
- Continuous Mining Machine Operators$61,810 · +3.2%
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$59,850 · +4.6%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.