According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed. | 97% |
| Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions. | 93% |
| 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. | 92% |
| 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. | 92% |
| 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. | 91% |
| Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions. | 90% |
| Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws. | 90% |
| Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures. | 89% |
| Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material. | 89% |
| Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns. | 88% |
| Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives. | 86% |
| Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts. | 86% |
| Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures. | 85% |
| 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. | 84% |
| Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites. | 82% |
| Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends. | 80% |
| Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary. | 79% |
| Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place. | 76% |
| Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information. | 76% |
| Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports. | 76% |
| Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges. | 76% |
| Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools. | 74% |
| Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples. | 74% |
| Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches. | 72% |
| Obtain samples of earth from sidewalls of well boreholes, using electrically exploding devices. | 68% |
