How to become a Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster 2024

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster 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.

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster is Also Know as

In different settings, Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster is titled as

Blast Hole Driller
Blaster
Explosive Technician
Powderman
Unexploded Ordnance Quality Control Officer

Education and Training of Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Education Required for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Degrees Related to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Training Required for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster in different industries are

What Do Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster 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.
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.
Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures.
Light fuses, drop detonating devices into wells or boreholes, or activate firing devices with plungers, dials, or buttons, in order to set off single or multiple blasts.
Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites.
Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends.
Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary.
Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools.
Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information.
Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports.
Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges.
Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches.
Obtain samples of earth from sidewalls of well boreholes, using electrically exploding devices.
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.

Qualities of Good Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Adjustable combination wrenches
Air rotary drills
Alternating current AC generators
Ammonium nitrate fuel oil ANFO loaders
Avalaunchers
Backhoe-equipped tractors
Balance scales
Blast hole tubing
Blasthole drills
Blasting cap crimpers
Blasting machines
Bobcats
Bore hole thermometers
Cable tool drills
Chain slings
Clinometers
Coated gloves
Conduit bending tools
Core drill rigs
Crescent wrenches
Day boxes
Depth measurement gauges
Desanders
Detonating cords
Dewatering pumps
Digital ammeters
Digital calculators
Digital micrometers
Digital multimeters
Digital ohmmeters
Digital video cameras
Digital voltmeters
Digital wattmeters
Discharge hoses
Downhole hammers
Downhole well testing equipment
Drill pipe tongs
Drilling collars
Earth drilling machines
Electrical circuit testers
Electricians' knives
Electronic shock tube initiators
End cutting pliers
Equipment dollies
Explosive blasting caps
Explosives funnels
Explosives handling robots
Explosives time delay fuses
Extension ladders
Field forklifts
Fixed blade knives
Flashing warning lights
Folding knives
Forklifts
Fuse cutters
Fuse testers
Galvanometers
Global positioning system GPS receivers
Grappling hooks
Grout pumps
Hacksaws
Hand chisels
Hand shears
Handheld remote thermometers
Hard hats
Harpoon retrievers
Hoisting equipment
Hole savers
Hydraulic pressure gauges
Instantaneous electrical detonators
Insulated pliers
Jackhammers
Laptop computers
Laser rangefinders
Loading poles
Long period delay detonators
Longnose pliers
Lowering hooks
Lube guns
Marsh funnels
Meggers
Millivoltmeters
Mobile radios
Mud balances
Mud guns
Mud mixers
Mud pumping equipment
Mud rotary drills
Non-contact voltage testers
Non-electric delay detonators
Overhead cranes
Padded gloves
Pallet jacks
Perforating capsule guns
Perforating casing guns
Personal computers
Phase rotation meters
Phillips head screwdrivers
Pipe retrieval fishing tools
Plastic plugs
Plumb bobs
Pneumatic drilling equipment
Portable air compressors
Portable cranes
Portable signal generators
Power augers
Precision levels
Precision tweezers
Protective ear plugs
Protective respirators
Protective safety glasses
Remote blasting systems
Remote firing devices
Resistance testers
Right angle prisms
Ring gauges
Rotary drilling tools
Rubber mallets
Safety cones
Safety fuses
Safety goggles
Safety harnesses
Seismic activity recorders
Shale shakers
Shock tube detonators
Short period delay detonators
Short-wave radios
Spring scales
Stake flags
Stakebed trucks
Submerged arc welding tools
Surface connector blocks
Surveyors leveling rods
Tablet computers
Tamping rods
Temperature data loggers
Test lamps
Tie-down equipment
Tongue and groove pliers
Torpedo levels
Tractor-trailer trucks
Transport trucks
Trenchers
Truck mounted cranes
Truck-mounted water pumps
Vernier calipers
Warning sirens
Water level meters
Water logging tools
Water monitoring samplers
Water sampling bailers
Water test kits
Weighted tape measures
Wheeled wire dispensers
Wire cleaning brushes
Wire cutting tools
Wire loop pullers
Wire strippers
Wood wedges
Work trucks

Technology Skills required for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster

Autodesk AutoCAD
Blaster's Tool and Supply Company Blaster's Calculator
Datavis DBS Designer
DetNet ViewShot
ESRI ArcGIS software
Global positioning system GPS software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Word

US Universities

How to become Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blaster in 2024