Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts and Blasters: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

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. Includes seismograph shooters.

• 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.

Salary

Explosives Workers with little to no experience tend to make between $34500 and $41190 while the more experienced ones can earn over $62050 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as an Explosives Worker, Ordnance Handling Expert and Blaster is to move to a higher paying state like WI. Right now, the highest paying states for Explosives Workers are WI, NY, CA, NV and WY.

However, a higher pay at WI doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at WI might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as an Explosives Worker, Ordnance Handling Expert and Blaster is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Explosives Workers what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a High School Diploma followed by a Post-Secondary Certificate.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being an Explosives Worker, Ordnance Handling Expert and Blaster.

What is the job like

63% of Explosives Workers said they were satisfied with their job and 56% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

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