Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
SOC Code: 47-5032
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters carries a 43% AI exposure score (High automation risk), with a median annual wage of $59,110 and -0.9% projected employment growth from 2024 to 2034 (BLS), affecting approximately 5,800 workers. Full task breakdown, skills, and employer data are below.
Proportion of tasks susceptible to AI automation (O*NET analysis)
At 43% AI exposure, Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters sits 6 points above the 37.2% average across 832 U.S. occupations - more exposed than 76% of them. Most of its core tasks still require human judgment.
Career outlook score
34/100
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters, weighted across 3 of 3 tracked dimensions
A weighted composite of median wage, projected growth, and AI-automation security (inverted exposure), each benchmarked against every other tracked occupation. It describes this occupation's standing across those three dimensions, not a guarantee of future outcomes.
- Median wage C- $59,110
Annual median wage, percentile rank vs all tracked occupations
- Projected growth F -0.9%
Projected employment change, 2024-2034, BLS Employment Projections
- AI exposure (inverted) F 43% exposure
Lower O*NET task-automability scores lower risk; this dimension scores security, not exposure
Home health and personal care aides is #1 of 832 occupations by employment (4.3M, AI exposure rank #392 at 35%) vs. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks #1 by AI task exposure (95%, employment rank #17 at 1.6M).
Automation-risk inventory
Exclusive cut of 832 occupations by PlainWorkforce automation-risk band. Orthogonal to the continuous AI-exposure distribution chart below and to this occupation's single risk badge, this is the corpus band mix, with Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters in the High band.
Credential × growth standing
Open entry with non-declining BLS pace
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters keeps an HS / some college bar (333 of 832) and sits in Slow growth (245 of 832). Lower formal gates with a non-shrinking employment line - skill and AI desks matter more than credentials here.
Where Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters sits among all occupations
AI-exposure score distribution across 832 U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis). This occupation is marked in rose.
Where Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters sits by AI exposure
AI-exposure score distribution across U.S. occupations (O*NET task analysis)
43% Higher than most higher than 76% of 832 occupations
Occupations, banded by AI-exposure score
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more occupations. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor) · BLS 2024–2034
Source: O*NET task data (U.S. Department of Labor); AI-exposure scores are PlainWorkforce's analysis. As of BLS 2024–2034.
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters vs. its occupational neighbors
AI exposure (horizontal) vs projected 2024–2034 growth (vertical) for occupations in the same SOC group. Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters is marked in rose; the top-left corner is the most future-proof.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 (growth) and O*NET (AI-exposure analysis by PlainWorkforce).
Employment Projections
Where This Score Comes From
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters's High automation-risk tier is computed from O*NET Database 30.0 task-level analysis, where each documented task the occupation performs is evaluated against current generative AI, robotic process automation, and machine-learning capabilities. A score in the 40–70% range indicates meaningful automation pressure on specific task categories, but the role as a whole still requires human judgment for coordination, exception handling, or client interaction.
The employment, wage, and education figures above come from a second, separate federal source: BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034, matched to the O*NET task data by Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 47-5032) code, with the wage figure cross-validated against the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 survey. BLS figures are presented exactly as published, with no adjustment on our part; the SOC-code match is what lets Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters be compared directly against every other tracked occupation on the same basis, not just roles that happen to share a job title.
For career planners, this profile should be read alongside the task, skill, and knowledge breakdowns below and the list of employers whose workforce composition includes Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters. Adjacent occupations shown further down offer lateral moves that preserve industry knowledge while potentially reducing exposure.
Education & Entry Requirements
Top Tasks (O*NET)
- 1. Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
- 2. Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
- 3. 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.
- 4. 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.
- 5. 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.
- 6. Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
- 7. Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
- 8. Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
- 9. Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
- 10. Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
Key Skills Required
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
- Time Management
- Reading Comprehension
Knowledge Areas
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Mathematics
- Engineering and Technology
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Transportation
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Mechanical
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI replace Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters?
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters has an AI exposure score of 43%, indicating a high level of automation risk. Some tasks in this role can be augmented or partially automated by AI, but core responsibilities require human judgment.
What is the job outlook for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters?
According to BLS Employment Projections 2024-2034, Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters is projected to decline by 0.9% over the decade. Current employment stands at approximately 5,800 workers.
What skills are needed for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters?
Key skills for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters include Active Listening, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, and others. Typical entry-level education is High school diploma or equivalent.
How much do Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters earn?
The median annual wage for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters is $59,110, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024). Actual earnings vary by location, experience, industry, and employer. The BLS publishes detailed wage percentiles by region in its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
What education is required for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters?
The typical entry-level education for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters is High school diploma or equivalent. Employers generally expect Less than 5 years of related work experience. On-the-job training typically involves Long-term on-the-job training. Requirements can vary by employer and specialization.
Which companies employ Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters?
Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters roles exist across many industries and employers. Workforce composition is estimated from BLS industry-occupation employment distributions matched to SEC-registered public companies.
AI Exposure Rating
High automation risk based on 10 analyzed tasks. A moderate share of tasks may be augmented by AI tools.
Nationwide occupations with similar workforce profiles
Two data-derived peer sets for Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters: AI-exposure neighbors and BLS 2034 growth neighbors (distinct comparison neighborhoods, cross-occupation).
Similar AI exposure score
Nearest O*NET task-automability scores nationwide (43% here).
- Adult basic education, adult secondary education, and english as a second language instructors · AI exposure 43%
- Chief executives · AI exposure 43%
- Coin, vending, and amusement machine servicers and repairers · AI exposure 43%
- Correctional officers and jailers · AI exposure 43%
Similar projected growth (2024–2034)
Nearest BLS employment change rates nationwide (-0.9% here).
- Computer, automated teller, and office machine repairers · growth -0.9%
- Dispatchers, except police, fire, and ambulance · growth -0.9%
- Automotive and watercraft service attendants · growth -1.0%
- Construction and building inspectors · growth -0.8%
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published BLS + O*NET metrics among occupations with ≥10,000 workers in 2024; corpus ranks above sort the full tracked set.
Related Occupations
What to do with this
Use Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters' numbers above to compare, not just read in isolation.
- Compare Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters side by side against another occupation on wage, growth, and AI exposure. Workforce comparison tool
- Understand how the AI exposure score above is actually calculated before treating it as a verdict. Reading AI exposure scores
- See the full ranked list of occupations with the lowest automation exposure nationwide. Safest occupations from AI
AI exposure scores estimate task automatability from O*NET data; they are not a certainty of job loss, and BLS growth projections are estimates, not guarantees.
Data sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024–2034 and O*NET Database 30.0. Employment figures are rounded. Wage data from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES).