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Job 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.

Job Details

The SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code is 47-5031.00
The Mean Annual Wage in the U.S. is $ 54,580.00
The Mean Hourly Wage is $ 26.00
Currently, there are 6,310 people on this job

☝️ Information based on the reference occupation “Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters”.

Also Known As…

Tasks for “Powder Worker”

Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures.
Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites.
Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
Observe odometers, weight indicators, and instrument panels in trucks in order to position guns at predetermined points in wells.
Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
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.
Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports.
Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
Repair electrical instruments, using electricians' hand tools.
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.
Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
Obtain samples of earth from sidewalls of well boreholes, using electrically exploding devices.
Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
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, 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.
Signal hoist operators to lower torpedoes or sample-taking guns into wells and to raise equipment for sampling from blast holes after detonation.
Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends.
Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information.
Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges.
Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, or drills, in order to bore charge holes.
Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools.
Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches.
Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary.

Related Technology & Tools

Resistance testers
Electricians' knives
Right angle prisms
Bore hole thermometers
Laptop computers
Digital voltmeters
Perforating capsule guns
Wire cutting tools
Non-electric delay detonators
Crescent wrenches
Equipment dollies
Jackhammers
Precision tweezers
Fuse testers
Wire strippers
Digital multimeters
Weighted tape measures
Lowering hooks
Test lamps
Depth measurement gauges
Padded gloves
Forklifts
Wheeled wire dispensers
Temperature data loggers
Plumb bobs
Wood wedges
Rubber mallets
End cutting pliers
Electronic shock tube initiators
Tamping rods
Explosives handling robots
Meggers
Hand chisels
Plastic plugs
Balance scales
Blasting cap crimpers
Protective safety glasses
Fuse cutters
Ammonium nitrate fuel oil ANFO loaders
Digital wattmeters
Longnose pliers
Phillips head screwdrivers
Surface connector blocks
Ring gauges
Digital ammeters
Extension ladders
Portable signal generators
Day boxes
Hole savers
Personal computers
Explosive blasting caps
Hoisting equipment
Blast hole tubing
Hard hats
Remote firing devices
Fixed blade knives
Digital ohmmeters
Tie-down equipment
Shock tube detonators
Safety fuses
Remote blasting systems
Avalaunchers
Tractor-trailer trucks
Vernier calipers
Mobile radios
Digital calculators
Overhead cranes
Explosives time delay fuses
Discharge hoses
Torpedo levels
Folding knives
Explosives funnels
Wire loop pullers
Hacksaws
Safety harnesses
Detonating cords
Harpoon retrievers
Spring scales
Short period delay detonators
Digital micrometers
Wire cleaning brushes
Seismic activity recorders
Blasting machines
Safety goggles
Hydraulic pressure gauges
Grappling hooks
Blasthole drills
Protective ear plugs
Insulated pliers
Phase rotation meters
Long period delay detonators
Dewatering pumps
Pneumatic drilling equipment
Galvanometers
Clinometers
Laser rangefinders
Flashing warning lights
Warning sirens
Short-wave radios
Portable cranes
Loading poles
Hand shears
Tongue and groove pliers
Protective respirators
Perforating casing guns
Non-contact voltage testers
Portable air compressors
Stakebed trucks
Electrical circuit testers
Stake flags
Transport trucks
Safety cones
Coated gloves
Surveyors leveling rods
Pallet jacks
Millivoltmeters
Instantaneous electrical detonators
Conduit bending tools

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