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Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Pile Driver 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 Pile Driver 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 Pile Driver Operators
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$59,110
$70,510
Employment · BLS OEWS
5,680
3,040
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
6th pct
0th pct

At a glance

Dimension Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters Pile Driver Operators
Median pay $59,110 $70,510
Employment 5,680 3,040
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Declining (-0.9%) About average (+4.3%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 500 300
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 · 0th 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, Mathematics, Multilimb Coordination, Reaction Time, Critical Thinking, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Control Precision, Selective Attention, Depth Perception, Engineering and Technology, Administration and Management, Transportation, Visualization, Far Vision, Speech Recognition.

Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

  • Law and Government
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Speaking
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Time Management
  • Category Flexibility
  • Flexibility of Closure

Specific to Pile Driver Operators

  • Building and Construction
  • Mechanical
  • Rate Control
  • Response Orientation
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Design
  • Troubleshooting
  • Coordination

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 , Electronic mail software , Analytical or scientific software , Mobile location based services software .

Specific to Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters

Specific to Pile Driver Operators

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters or Pile Driver 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 Pile Driver 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-pile-driver-operators

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Pile Driver 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-pile-driver-operators

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-explosives-workers-ordnance-handling-experts-and-blasters-vs-pile-driver-operators,
  title  = {Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters vs Pile Driver 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-pile-driver-operators}
}

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