Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

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State of Alaska > Department of Labor > Research & Analysis Home > Alaska Occupations

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters (47-5031)

Occupation description: 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. Excludes "Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas" (47-5021) who may also work with explosives.

For an explanation of the data, click on the question mark next to the heading.

Career Ladder/Lattice

The Alaska Career Ladder/Lattice is a tool to help job seekers identify upward career paths and lateral opportunities.
Click here to see the career ladder/lattice for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters.

Employment and Job Openings

	Average employment			Average annual openings
	2010 estimate	2020 projection	Percent change	Growth	Replacement	Total
Alaska	40	47	17.5	1	1	2
United States	6,800	6,800	0.0	0	140	140

Job outlook

Alaska: Alaska’s employment growth is strong with low employment opportunities. Read more.

2012 Wages

	Mean Wage and 95% Confidence Interval			Wage by Percentile
	Low	Mean	High	10th	Median	90th
United States	n/a	23.74	n/a	15.63	23.38	32.94
Alaska	27.96	29.81	31.66	23.82	28.94	37.38
Balance of State	26.04	29.19	32.34	23.47	28.90	36.34

Labor Force Indicators

2011 Worker Characteristics
Total workers	Nonresident workers	Percent nonresident	Percent age 45 plus	Percent age 50 plus
61	18	29.5	43.5	26.1

2011 Potential Supply

Qualified but working in another occupation	3
Currently employed in a lower paid occupation	0
UI claimants previously working in occupation	8

2011 ALEXsys Employment Data

Number of registrants	89
Number of job position postings	3
Ratio of registrants to job position postings	29.7

2011 Alaska Licensing Information

Explosives Handler: 194 licensed View licensing requirements

Typical Entry-level Education, Experience, and/or On-the-job Training

Education: High school diploma or equivalent

Work experience: None

On-the-job training: Moderate-term on-the-job training

Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Research & Analysis Section

1111 W. 8th St., Juneau, AK 99801
P.O. Box 115501, Juneau, AK 99811-5501

Phone: 907.465.4500 Fax: 907.465.4506