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Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters and Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$59,110
$58,710
Employment · BLS OEWS
5,680
469,270
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
6th pct
30th pct

At a glance

Dimension Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
Median pay $59,110 $58,710
Employment 5,680 469,270
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-0.9%) About average (+3.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 500 41,900
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 6th pct Low · 30th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk — 11th pct · 13% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman — No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Public Safety and Security, Problem Sensitivity, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Active Listening, Oral Comprehension, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Information Ordering, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Monitoring, Oral Expression, Finger Dexterity, Multilimb Coordination, Reaction Time, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Control Precision, Visual Color Discrimination, Speaking, Time Management, Selective Attention, Depth Perception, Perceptual Speed, Speech Clarity, Visualization, Far Vision, Speech Recognition, Reading Comprehension.

Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

  • Law and Government
  • Mathematics
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Category Flexibility
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Administration and Management

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

  • Mechanical
  • Rate Control
  • English Language
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Response Orientation
  • Troubleshooting
  • Time Sharing
  • Static Strength

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Spreadsheet software , Office suite software , Electronic mail software .

Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

Specific to Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters or Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators,
  title  = {Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters-vs-operating-engineers-and-other-construction-equipment-operators}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.