Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.

“Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.” is a task performed by Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters. Among the occupation's 30 rated tasks, workers place it 7th by importance (#24 most important).

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Design industrial systems or equipment. in Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Examine blast areas to determine amounts and kinds of explosive charges needed and to ensure that safety laws are observed. · importance 4.9
• Tie specified lengths of delaying fuses into patterns in order to time sequences of explosions. · importance 4.7
• 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. · importance 4.6
• 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. · importance 4.6
• 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. · importance 4.6
• Mark patterns, locations, and depths of charge holes for drilling, and issue drilling instructions. · importance 4.5
• Compile and keep gun and explosives records in compliance with local and federal laws. · importance 4.5
• Measure depths of drilled blast holes, using weighted tape measures. · importance 4.5
• Connect electrical wire to primers, and cover charges or fill blast holes with clay, drill chips, sand, or other material. · importance 4.5
• Lay primacord between rows of charged blast holes, and tie cord into main lines to form blast patterns. · importance 4.4
• Assemble and position equipment, explosives, and blasting caps in holes at specified depths, or load perforating guns or torpedoes with explosives. · importance 4.3
• Verify detonation of charges by observing control panels, or by listening for the sounds of blasts. · importance 4.3
• Move and store inventories of explosives, loaded perforating guns, and other materials, according to established safety procedures. · importance 4.3
• 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. · importance 4.2

See all tasks on the Explosives Workers, Ordnance Handling Experts, and Blasters page.

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.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

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

@misc{singulariki-task-23490,
  title  = {Create and lay out designs for drill and blast patterns.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-23490}
}