Shot Firer
What the work is
Assembles, positions and detonates explosives at a mining or demolition site.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Inspects and prepares blast sites for explosives
- Assembles and positions explosives according to safety regulations and blast plans
- Monitors weather conditions and adjusts blast plans accordingly
- Conducts pre-blast checks and ensures that the blast area is clear
- Detonates explosives using appropriate methods and techniques
- Inspects blast sites after detonation to assess the effectiveness of the blast and ensure safety standards are met
- Tests and maintains detonation equipment
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in an open-cut mine on a fictional inland plain, with haul trucks, drill rigs and a blast crew. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- The sun comes up over the pit and a long line of trucks is already moving ore
- A blast goes exactly to plan and the crew stands down knowing everyone was clear
- A tough shift that ends with a full target and a team that has each other's backs
Hard days
- Weeks on a roster away from home, living in a camp, with dust in everything
- Night shifts when the body wants to sleep and the machine needs all of your attention
- A delay to the schedule that everyone upstairs wants fixed by tomorrow
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 732332, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.