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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters?
Task-level automation exposure for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters: 27 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
21%
weighted task index
27 of 27 tasks scored
Median Salary
$61,390 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
5,100 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
0.0%
employment change
400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 32 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$39,520 – $100,520
Highest medians
New Jersey $100,520
New York $96,940
North Carolina $85,630
Wyoming $85,070
Pennsylvania $84,400
Lowest medians
Iowa $39,520
Louisiana $39,900
Ohio $46,630
Mississippi $47,060
West Virginia $49,630
State figures come from the 47-5032 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 21%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 68%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 9%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 9%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 71/100
High
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
27 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 13%
3 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 7%
2 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 80%
22 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Operate drones for aerial survey of blast sites and for post-blast damage assessment.
Constituent Tasks
#9904 · Core · 60% automatable
Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
decision support — AI assesses compliance against written standards
Determine operational compliance with regulations or standards. Select tools, equipment, or technologies for use in operations or projects.
#9905 · Core · 5% automatable
Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
physical manipulation — Explosives prep, high-risk hands-on work
Prepare explosives for detonation.
#9906 · Core · 15% automatable
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.
interpersonal — Directing crews in the field is human leadership work
Position safety or support equipment. Direct construction or extraction personnel.
#9907 · Core · 6% automatable
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.
physical manipulation — Detonation equipment handled with physical safety
Prepare explosives for detonation. Operate detonation equipment.
#9908 · Core · 5% automatable
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.
physical manipulation — Explosives prep, high-risk hands-on work
Pour materials into or on designated areas. Prepare explosives for detonation.
#9909 · Core · 8% automatable
Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
physical manipulation — Marking reference points is hands-on site work
Mark reference points on construction materials.
#9910 · Core · 80% automatable
Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs
Record operational or environmental data.
#9911 · Core · 22% automatable
Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
physical manipulation — Physical site dimension measurement
Measure work site dimensions.
#9912 · Core · 5% automatable
Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
physical manipulation — Explosives prep, high-risk hands-on work
Prepare explosives for detonation.
#9913 · Core · 5% automatable
Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
physical manipulation — Explosives prep, high-risk hands-on work
Prepare explosives for detonation.
#9914 · Core · 6% automatable
Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
physical manipulation — Hands-on positioning of heavy construction equipment
Assemble products or production equipment. Prepare explosives for detonation. Position construction or extraction equipment.
#9915 · Core · 30% automatable
Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
visual inspection — Extraction operations oversight is physical, hazardous, human-led
Monitor extraction operations.
#9916 · Core · 9% automatable
Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures.
physical manipulation — Hands-on stocking of merchandise
Move materials, equipment, or supplies. Stock supplies or merchandise.
#9917 · Core · 6% automatable
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.
physical manipulation — Detonation equipment handled with physical safety
Operate detonation equipment.
#9918 · Core · 10% automatable
Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites.
situated mobility — Truck driving needs real-world navigation and control
Drive trucks or truck-mounted equipment.
#9919 · Core · 6% automatable
Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends.
physical manipulation — Hand cutting of flexible flooring materials
Cut carpet, vinyl or other flexible materials. Prepare explosives for detonation.
#9920 · Core · 55% automatable
Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary.
decision support — Construction procurement needs human supplier judgment
Order construction or extraction materials or equipment.
#9922 · Core · 8% automatable
Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools.
physical manipulation — Hands-on heavy equipment maintenance
Maintain extraction or excavation equipment.
#9923 · Supplemental · 30% automatable
Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information.
physical manipulation — Operating comms hardware needs hands-on setup and tuning
Operate communications equipment or systems.
#9924 · Supplemental · 4% automatable
Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
physical manipulation — Physical assembly of products by hand
Load materials into construction equipment. Assemble products or production equipment.
#9925 · Supplemental · 9% automatable
Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports.
physical manipulation — Equipment and facility cleaning is hands-on
Clean equipment or facilities. Maintain extraction or excavation equipment.
#9927 · Supplemental · 9% automatable
Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
physical manipulation — Crane/hoist operation demands real-time physical control
Position construction or extraction equipment. Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
#23490 · Core · 50% automatable
Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.
decision support — AI proposes configurations; engineer verifies physical constraints
Develop equipment or component configurations.
#23491 · Core · 80% automatable
Document geological formations encountered during work.
data analysis — Record operational or environmental data into logs
Record operational or environmental data.
#23492 · Core · 3% automatable
Operate machines to flush earth cuttings or to blow dust from holes.
physical manipulation — Manual clearing of debris and vegetation outdoors
Remove debris or vegetation from work sites.
#23493 · Core · 10% automatable
Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, and drills, in order to bore charge holes.
physical manipulation — Earth drilling requires operating heavy equipment by hand
Drill holes in earth or rock.
#23494 · Core · 5% automatable
Signal crane operators to move equipment.
physical manipulation — Directing equipment operators via physical signals
Signal equipment operators to indicate proper equipment positioning.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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