Unique Profession, Become a Shot Firer (Blaster)
A shot firer sounds like the name of an Olympic sport; however the truth is far from it. A Shot Firer, or Blaster, is a person who assembles, positions and detonates explosives in order to move or break up soil and rock, or demolish buildings. Workers in this field need a very thorough knowledge of explosives.
A Blaster also needs to ensure that safety areas are adhered to by all staff and members of the public, be able to accurately measure the amount of explosive required for a particular job, as well as a thorough knowledge of rock and building structure in order to determine the cause and effect relationship.
To be a Blaster, one needs to enjoy practical work, needs to be able to adhere to safety rules, not claustrophobic or agoraphobic. An interest and sound knowledge of maths and science is advisable as the physics and calculations involved need to be accurate and well understood. For security reasons, one would also need to undergo police and background checks.
There are many areas of specialisation including Agriculture, construction (buildings), fireworks, mining (open cut), Seismic (prevention of earthquakes), underwater and underground (tunnels and mine shafts). Specialisation requires a deeper knowledge of the conditions, repercussions and materials one would be working with, for example, those working underwater would need to understand the effect on the marine life as well as the effect on the oceanic forces so as to not cause a small tidal wave.
Most training is on job, and there are no minimum educational requirements. In order to understand the general physics behind the profession it is advisable that one has completed high school. In order to work you also usually need to be 21 before you can comply with some work cover legislation.
Short courses that can be taken to assist career progression include Explosives, Shot Firers and Mining operations courses. Shot Firers on average, can be paid well above the average wage in Australia with the industry average being around $93K.
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