Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters Onet SOC Code 47-5031.00 Career Description: 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. Includes seismograph shooters. Related Clusters: Programs of Study Explosives Workers, Ordinance Handling Experts, and Blasters Extension Agent

Career Summary:

• Experience- Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience may be helpful in these occupations, but usually is not needed. For example, a teller might benefit from experience working directly with the public, but an inexperienced person could still learn to be a teller with little difficulty.
• Education- These occupations usually require a high school diploma and may require some vocational training or job-related course work. In some cases, an associate's or bachelor's degree could be needed.
• Job Training- Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees.
• Examples- These occupations often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include sheet metal workers, forest fire fighters, customer service representatives, pharmacy technicians, salespersons (retail), and tellers.

• 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.
• 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.
• Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, or drills, in order to bore charge holes.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Signal hoist operators to lower torpedoes or sample-taking guns into wells and to raise equipment for sampling from blast holes after detonation.
• Observe odometers, weight indicators, and instrument panels in trucks in order to position guns at predetermined points in wells.
• Repair electrical instruments, using electricians' hand tools.

• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

• 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).
• 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).
• Reaction Time - The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 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 there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• 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.
• 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.

• Handling and Moving Objects - Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Performing General Physical Activities - Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling of materials.
• Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings - Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Controlling Machines and Processes - Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material - Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People - Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• Scheduling Work and Activities - Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Training and Teaching Others - Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
• Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others - Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.
• Coaching and Developing Others - Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills.
• Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates - Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance.
• Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information - Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.

• Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
• Second Interest High-Point - Secondary-Cutoff/Rank Descriptiveness

• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
• Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
• Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
• Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
• Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
• Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
• Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

• Moral Values - Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
• Supervision, Technical - Workers on this job have supervisors who train their workers well.
• Compensation - Workers on this job are paid well in comparison with other workers.
• Support-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

Wage and salary data provided by:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website