How do they match: Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

  • Charge Entry Specialist
  • Charge Specialist
  • Charger

  • Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
  • Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges.
  • Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
  • Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches.
  • Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
  • 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.
  • Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
  • Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
  • 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.
  • Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, and drills, in order to bore charge holes.
  • Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.