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.
29 of 29 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions.
AI: Fully automatable - Mapping, blast design calculations and issuing drilling instructions are readily automatable with GIS, engineering software and AI design tools and can be executed end‑to‑end in many projects by 2025.
Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws.
AI: Fully automatable - Recordkeeping and regulatory compliance for guns and explosives are transactional tasks that can be fully automated with databases, workflow automation and compliance‑check software.
Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures.
AI: Fully automatable - Measuring hole depths is routinely captured digitally by modern drill rigs and sensors and can be automatically recorded and validated without manual weighted tapes.
Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated sensors, control-panel telemetry, and audio/SEISMIC detection with AI classifiers can reliably verify detonations without human observation.
Maintain inventory levels, ordering new supplies as necessary.
AI: Fully automatable - Software systems and AI can fully manage inventory tracking, reordering, and supplier interactions through integrations and automated workflows.
Signal hoist operators to lower torpedoes or sample-taking guns into wells and to raise equipment for sampling from blast holes after detonation.
AI: Fully automatable - Signaling hoist operators is fundamentally a communications/control task that can be fully automated with sensors and integrated control systems available by 2025.
Observe odometers, weight indicators, and instrument panels in trucks in order to position guns at predetermined points in wells.
AI: Fully automatable - Monitoring odometers, weight indicators, and panel instruments and using that data to position equipment is a routine sensing/control activity that is readily automatable with existing systems by 2025.
Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed.
AI: Partial - AI and software can evaluate site photos, models, and regulations to recommend charge types and amounts and flag compliance issues, but final legal/safety judgments and on‑site validations remain human responsibilities in 2025.
Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions.
AI: Partial - Robotic manipulators and automated guidance can assist or perform repetitive fuse‑patterning in controlled settings, but delicate, variable field tying and liability/safety oversight prevent full autonomous deployment widely by 2025.
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.
AI: Partial - Simple physical tasks like placing cones and sending alerts can be automated (drones, robots, comms systems), but ensuring all people are clear and meeting nuanced site safety protocols typically requires human supervision.
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.
AI: Partial - Remote systems and robotics can place and detonate charges in some controlled operations, yet broad full autonomy is limited by safety, regulatory, and complex on‑site decision requirements in 2025.
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.
AI: Partial - Specialized machinery can load and tamp many bulk explosive materials, but variable hole conditions, manual cleanup and safety checks mean full autonomous execution is not generally realized by 2025.
Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material.
AI: Partial - Automated systems can assist with wiring and backfilling in controlled setups, but fine electrical connections on primers and varied backfill practices still often require human operators due to safety and variability.
Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns.
AI: Partial - Laying and tying primacord can be performed by specialized equipment in constrained environments, but variability, tensioning, and safety oversight limit full autonomous adoption in the field by 2025.
Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives.
AI: Partial - Robotic and remote-handling systems can assist in assembling and placing charges, but full autonomous, widely deployed handling of explosives in varied field conditions remains limited by safety, sensing, and regulatory constraints.
Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures.
AI: Partial - Inventory recordkeeping and some movement can be automated, but physical handling and storage of explosives require certified special-purpose equipment and procedures that are not fully automated in practice.
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.
AI: Partial - Remote firing systems and automated initiators can perform many activation tasks, but physically lighting fuses or placing devices in unpredictable environments remains hazardous and only partially automatable.
Drive trucks to transport explosives and blasting equipment to blasting sites.
AI: Partial - Autonomous driving technology can transport goods, but regulations, certification, and the special handling requirements for explosives limit full deployment, so partial automation is feasible.
Cut specified lengths of primacord and attach primers to cord ends.
AI: Partial - Precision cutting and primer attachment can be mechanized in controlled facilities, but widespread autonomous handling of unstable explosive components in field conditions is limited.
Set up and operate short-wave radio or field telephone equipment to transmit and receive blast information.
AI: Partial - Configuring and operating communications (SDR, routing, message handling) can be automated, but physical deployment and setup of field radios/phones often require human action, so the task is only partially automatable.
Insert waterproof sealers, bullets, and/or powder charges into guns, and screw gun ports back into place.
AI: Partial - Handling explosives and fitting seals/charges is highly hazardous and context‑dependent; while robotic remote assistance exists, full autonomous execution and safe field deployment are not broadly realized by 2025.
Clean, gauge, and lubricate gun ports.
AI: Partial - Cleaning, gauging, and lubricating ports can be assisted or performed by specialized maintenance robots, but variability, access constraints, and safety standards mean widespread full automation is limited in 2025.
Connect gun chambers to electric detonating devices, and operate controls at panelboards, in order to detonate charges in guns or to ignite chemical charges.
AI: Partial - Connecting detonators and initiating charges can be done by remote systems and automated controllers in controlled settings, but regulatory, safety, and reliability concerns prevent routine fully autonomous operation as of 2025.
Set up and operate equipment such as hoists, jackhammers, or drills, in order to bore charge holes.
AI: Partial - Semi-autonomous and remote-operated boring equipment exists and can be used, but complete autonomous setup and operation across diverse sites is not yet universally reliable or authorized.
Repair and service blasting, shooting, and automotive equipment, and electrical wiring and instruments, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - AI can support diagnostics and teleoperated assistance, but hands-on repair and fine manipulations with hand tools still require skilled human technicians in most cases.
Lower perforating guns into wells, using hoists; then use measuring devices and instrument panels to position guns in correct positions for taking samples.
AI: Partial - Automated hoists and positioning systems exist and can be integrated with sensors, but complex downhole conditions and human oversight requirements make full autonomous deployment uncommon in 2025.
Insert powder charges into chambers of sidewall sample-taking cylinders, and assemble cylinders, using special wrenches.
AI: Partial - Assembling and loading powder charges into sampling cylinders is a repetitive but hazardous task that robotic automation can assist with, yet broad, reliable end‑to‑end autonomy is not yet standard by 2025.
Obtain samples of earth from sidewalls of well boreholes, using electrically exploding devices.
AI: Partial - Taking sidewall samples with explosive devices has been automated in parts, but the high risk, variable geology, and strict safety/regulatory controls mean full autonomous execution is limited in 2025.
Repair electrical instruments, using electricians' hand tools.
AI: Partial - Repairing electrical instruments requires diagnostic reasoning and fine manual dexterity; AI can assist with diagnostics and guided tooling, but fully autonomous repairs are not broadly achieved by 2025.