Pyrotechnician’s certificate

The certificate of competency of a pyrotechnician requires training in the work of a pyrotechnician and at least 6 months of professional experience in the work of a pyrotechnician.

Junior charger’s certificate

The certificate of competency of a junior charger applies to the type of work determined in accordance with the person’s training and work experience. The work experience requirement is at least 6 months of work related to the task in question.

Types of work for junior chargers:

• clearance blasting
• ice jam blasting
• blasting in laboratory experiments
• seismic blasting
• rock blasting
• explosion welding
• structural blasting
• blasting of hardened and hot materials.

Senior charger’s certificate

Senior chargers can be certified to work either above ground or underground. Chargers with the right training and experience may apply for both certificates.

Above-ground work

• The work experience requirement is at least 12 months in blasting and excavation work, of which at least 3 months in above-ground blasting work required for obtaining the qualification of a senior charger.
• Applicants with a senior charger’s certificate for above-ground work and who wish to obtain a senior charger’s certificate for underground work are required to obtain at least 3 months of professional experience in underground blasting work necessary for obtaining the qualification of a senior charger.

Underground work

• The work experience requirement is at least 12 months in blasting and excavation work, of which at least 3 months in underground blasting work required for obtaining the qualification of a senior charger.
• Applicants with a senior charger’s certificate for underground work and who wish to obtain a senior charger’s certificate for above-ground work are required to obtain at least 3 months of professional experience in above-ground blasting work necessary for obtaining the qualification of a senior charger.

Chief charger’s certificate

The qualification of a chief charger may be granted to the holder of a senior charger’s certificate of competency.

Chief chargers can be certified to work either above ground or underground. Chargers with the right training and experience can apply for both certificates.

Above-ground work

• The work experience requirement is at least 18 months in blasting and excavation work as a senior charger, of which at least 3 months in above-ground blasting work required for obtaining the qualification of a chief charger.
• Applicants with a chief charger’s certificate for above-ground work and who wish to obtain a chief charger’s certificate for underground work are required to obtain at least 3 months of professional experience in underground blasting work necessary for obtaining the qualification of a chief charger.

Underground work

• The work experience requirement is at least 18 months in blasting and excavation work as a senior charger, of which at least 3 months in underground blasting work required for obtaining the qualification of a chief charger.
• Applicants with a chief charger’s certificate for underground work and who wish to obtain a chief charger’s certificate for above-ground work are required to obtain at least 3 months of professional experience in above-ground blasting work necessary for obtaining the qualification of a chief charger.

Blasting coordinator’s certificate

The qualification of a blasting coordinator may be granted to the holder of a senior charger’s certificate of competency.

The work experience requirement is at least 24 months in blasting and excavation work requiring the qualification of a chief charger, conducted in populated areas. At least 3 months of the work experience must be obtained in above-ground blasting and excavation work.

A charger’s certificate of competency may be issued to a person who has obtained a Master of Science (Technology) degree, engineering degree, technician’s degree or other similar degree and who possesses sufficient knowledge to obtain a certificate of competency on the basis of their educational and professional background.

The content of the completed degree or the supplementary training must be similar to the contents of the courses arranged for chargers. In addition to a person’s education, the work experience they have acquired can be considered to fulfil part of their information-related requirements.

Additional requirements for obtaining a senior charger’s certificate

• senior charger interview on the working conditions the applicant has applied for (above-ground and/or underground work)
• at least 12 months of work experience in practical blasting and excavation work.

Additional requirements for obtaining a chief charger’s certificate

• the applicant must possess a senior charger’s certificate
• chief charger interview on the working conditions the applicant has applied for (above-ground and/or underground work)
• at least 18 months of versatile work experience in practical blasting and excavation work as a senior charger.

Additional requirements for obtaining a blasting coordinator's certificate

• the successful completion of the blasting coordinator course and interview
• at least 24 months of professional experience in blasting and excavation work requiring a chief charger’s certificate in a populated area. At least six months of the work experience must be from practical above-ground blasting and excavation work.
• additionally, the applicant must have completed the junior charger course if they do not possess a charger’s certificate.

The processing fee for a charger's certificate is EUR 635.

The fee covers

• the processing of the application
• concise security clearance vetting carried out by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service
• a photo permit card
• postage for the permit card.

The processing fee is paid before an application is sent for processing. If you cancel your application during processing, the processing fee will be refunded to you.

If you lose your permit card, a new card will cost EUR 190.

Government Decree on the Finnish Supervisory Agency’s fees in 2026 (1177/2025) (available in Finnish and Swedish)

The Occupational Safety and Health Department at the Finnish Supervisory Agency is the licensing authority responsible for issuing and revoking a charger’s certificate.

To whom and under what conditions

A charger’s certificate of competency can be issued to a person who is at least 20 years of age for a five-year period.

The charger’s certificate can be issued to an applicant who is:

• suitably healthy
• reputable in nature
• adequately qualified and experienced.

In order to obtain a certificate of competency, the person must complete the charger's training and the associated interview and have accumulated a sufficient amount of work experience. The length of the training and work experience depend on the certificate of competency that the person is applying for.

The processing fee for a charger's certificate application is EUR 635.

Required attachments to the application:

• An official passport photo as an electronic jpg or jpeg image file for a photo permit card. Note! The licensing authority is unable to receive photograph IDs. Please ask your photography studio for an electronic jpg or jpeg image file, as a photo taken by yourself or a photo of a paper passport photo cannot be used for a permit card.
• Medical certificate (recommended: T form, only page 2/2 "employer's copy")
  • The medical certificate must state that the health examination has been performed for the work of a charger and that the applicant is fit to work as a charger.
  • The medical certificate may not be older than three months.
• Training certificate for completing the training required for a charger’s certificate
• Interview certificate
  • The interview certificate may not be older than two years.
• Certificate(s) of employment from an employer or contractors.
  The certificate of employment must include:
• description of blasting and excavation work (what, where, when)
• time spent on blasting and excavation work (employer’s or contractor’s estimate in months of how much of your total working time has been spent on blasting and excavation work)
• duration of employment (date of start and end of employment or information that the employment relationship continues)
• charger acting as head charger (name and the charger's certificate number).

If you are not a Finnish citizen:

• You must also submit copies of your passport’s photo and personal data pages

Check that the attachments are clear and legible.

How to proceed

Apply for a charger’s certificate electronically through the Regional administration e-service:

Applying for or renewing a charger’s certificate (Regional administration e-service)

Use of the e-service requires a working email address and online banking codes or a mobile certificate for identification.

1. On the Services page, select the Charger’s certificate from the list, after which you will be directed to identification and to use of the service.
2. Complete the application thoroughly and attach any required documents. Check that the attachments are clear and legible. You can also save the application while it is still incomplete and continue filling it in later.
3. Pay the processing fee. The processing fee is paid through the e-service using online banking codes or a debit or credit card. Paytrail will act as the payment intermediary.
4. Submit the application for processing. If you wish, you can save your application.

Note! If you cannot use the e-service, contact the licensing authority:

• Email: [email protected]
• Switchboard: +358 295 254 000 (please state that your matter concerns a charger’s certificate).

This is how the matter will proceed

You will be notified via the e-service and your e-mail address once the licensing authority has received your application. If necessary, the licensing authority will request additional information from you. You can follow the processing of your application in the e-service.

When the licensing authority has all the necessary information, they will request the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service to conduct a limited personnel security clearance.

You can cancel your application during its processing. If you cancel your application during processing, the processing fee will be refunded to you.

Concise security clearance vetting by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service

According to the Charger Act, an applicant must undergo a concise security clearance vetting before they can be issued a charger’s certificate. The licensing authority will ask the Finnish Security Intelligence Service to conduct a concise security clearance vetting on you.

The Finnish Security Intelligence Service will contact the charger’s certificate applicant by email to request their consent to a concise security clearance vetting.

Proceed as follows: Once you receive the email from the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, please sign in to the service, fill out the form and submit it to the Finnish Security Intelligence Service for processing.

Exemption

A charger’s certificate expires when the charger reaches the age of 68.

The licensing authority may, for special reasons, grant a person aged 68 or over the right to work as a charger. The exemption is granted for three years at a time.

Need help?

The Occupational Safety and Health Department at the Finnish Supervisory Agency is the licensing authority responsible for issuing and revoking a charger’s certificate throughout Finland.

• Email: [email protected]
• Switchboard: +358 295 254 000 (please state that your matter concerns a charger’s certificate).

The validity of a charger’s certificate may be extended by 5 years.

To whom and under what conditions

The preconditions for the renewal of a certificate are:

• completing a refresher course
• submitting the application to the permit authority.

If you have completed the refresher course and submitted your application and its appendices during the validity period of your current certificate, you may continue to work in accordance with your certificate until your new permit has been granted.

If you have not renewed your charger’s certificate during its validity period, you must complete a separate charger’s interview in addition to the refresher course.

The processing fee for a charger's certificate application is EUR 635.

Required attachments to the application

• An official passport photo as an electronic jpg or jpeg image file for a photo permit card. Note! The licensing authority is unable to receive photograph IDs. Please ask your photography studio for an electronic jpg or jpeg image file, as a photo taken by yourself or a photo of a paper passport photo cannot be used for a permit card.
• Medical certificate (recommended: T form, only page 2/2 "employer's copy")
  • The medical certificate must state that the health examination has been performed for the work of a charger and that the applicant is fit to work as a charger.
  • The medical certificate may not be older than three months.
• Refresher course certificate
• Certificate(s) of employment from an employer or contractors.
  The certificate of employment must include:
• description of blasting and excavation work (what, where, when)
• time spent on blasting and excavation work (employer’s or contractor’s estimate in months of how much of your total working time has been spent on blasting and excavation work)
• duration of employment (date of start and end of employment or information that the employment relationship continues).

Note! The certificate of employment must indicate the work experience for the charger’s certificate you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a chief charger’s certificate for work over ground and underground, you must have a certificate of employment for both working conditions (over ground and underground).

Additionally, if you have not renewed your charger’s certificate during its validity period:

• Interview certificate

If you are not a Finnish citizen:

• You must also submit copies of your passport’s photo and personal data pages

Check that the attachments are clear and legible.

How to proceed

Apply for a charger’s certificate electronically through the Regional administration e-service:

Applying for or renewing a charger’s certificate (Regional administration e-service)

Use of the e-service requires a working email address and online banking codes or a mobile certificate for identification.

1. On the Services page, select the Charger’s certificate from the list, after which you will be directed to identification and to use of the service.
2. Complete the application thoroughly and attach any required documents. Check that the attachments are clear and legible. You can also save the application while it is still incomplete and continue filling it in later.
3. Pay the processing fee. The processing fee is paid through the e-service using online banking codes or a debit or credit card. Paytrail will act as the payment intermediary.
4. Submit the application for processing. If you wish, you can save your application.

Note! If you cannot use the e-service, contact the licensing authority:

• Email: [email protected]
• Switchboard: +358 295 254 000 (please state that your matter concerns a charger’s certificate).

This is how the matter will proceed

You will be notified via the e-service and your e-mail address once the licensing authority has received your application. If necessary, the licensing authority will request additional information from you. You can follow the processing of your application in the e-service.

When the licensing authority has all the necessary information, they will request the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service to conduct a limited personnel security clearance.

You can cancel your application during its processing. If you cancel your application during processing, the processing fee will be refunded to you.

Concise security clearance vetting by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service

According to the Charger Act, an applicant must undergo a concise security clearance vetting before they can be issued a charger’s certificate. The licensing authority will ask the Finnish Security Intelligence Service to conduct a concise security clearance vetting on you. 

The Finnish Security Intelligence Service will contact the charger’s certificate applicant by email to request their consent to a concise security clearance vetting.

Proceed as follows: Once you receive the email from the Finnish Security Intelligence Service, please sign in to the service, fill out the form and submit it to the Finnish Security Intelligence Service for processing.

Need help?

The Occupational Safety and Health Department at the Finnish Supervisory Agency is the licensing authority responsible for issuing and revoking a charger’s certificate throughout Finland.

• Email: [email protected]
• Switchboard: +358 295 254 000 (please state that your matter concerns a charger’s certificate).

In order to obtain a certificate of competency, the applicant must complete the charger's training and the associated interview and have accumulated a sufficient amount of work experience. The length of the training and work experience depend on the certificate of competency that the person is applying for.

Pyrotechnician

The training of a pyrotechnician focuses on pyrotechnics, which differ fundamentally from other blasting work.

The key safety risk for pyrotechnicians is that they carry out their work in the immediate vicinity of an audience. This is the reason for the different requirements in their training. The training aims to provide pyrotechnicians with the necessary skills for safely conducting their pyrotechnical work with explosives and other related substances while taking the close proximity of their audience into account.

The minimum length of a pyrotechnician’s basic course is 40 lessons.

Junior charger

The junior charger’s certificate applies to specific types of work:

• clearance blasting
• ice jam blasting
• blasting in laboratory experiments
• seismic blasting
• rock blasting
• explosion welding
• structural blasting
• blasting of hardened and hot materials.

The curriculum is similar for all work types, but the course’s professional work periods differ from one another.

The minimum length of a junior charger’s basic course is 40 lessons.
If a charger wishes to add another work type to their certificate, which initially includes only one type of work, they must carry out 
the professional work period and interview related to that specific work type.

Senior charger

The purpose of the senior charger training is to provide the person with the skills to act independently in blasting work. A senior charger is allowed to use significantly more explosive materials outside populated areas than a junior charger. A senior charger’s certificate entitles its holder to act as the head of blasting work in mines, meaning that the training also provides the skills necessary for this task.

The course’s vocational studies focus on above-ground and/or underground excavation work.

The length of a senior charger’s basic course is 224 lessons. If a person has prior recognisable work or other experience, the course may be shortened, but its minimum length is always 164 lessons. The number of lessons is determined on a per-person basis at the beginning of the training.

Chief charger

Chief chargers work in tasks that are more demanding than those assigned to senior chargers. Chief chargers are not subject to any quantitative restrictions on the use of explosives.

The chief charger’s training provides students with more in-depth information on modern excavation technologies that focus on different bedrock characteristics and the explosives and methods used in them.

The length of a chief charger’s basic course is 90 lessons. If the person has prior experience, this can be recognised in the training. However, even in this case, the training will include at least 80 lessons.

Blasting coordinator

Blasting coordinators serve as blasting supervisors in populated areas where there are people present who are not part of the work site.

The blasting coordinator’s training places special emphasis on the planning and management of blasting and excavation work.

The length of a blasting coordinator’s basic course is 40 lessons.

Refresher courses

The refresher course required for renewing a charger’s certificate consists of eight lessons. The refresher course is the same for all certificate holders. The refresher course focuses on any relevant legislative reforms that have been introduced.

Applicants must complete the refresher course before their certificate expires. If a course is cancelled for reasons beyond an applicant’s control, they can apply for an extension to their certificate for a justified reason from the permit authority.

Appealing the results of an interview

After successfully completing a charger’s course, the certificate applicant must participate in an interview with an expert appointed by the permit authority. If the applicant is rejected on the basis of their interview, they may appeal the decision. The appeal must be submitted to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland. The expert must provide the person who participated in the interview with the necessary instructions for appeal in case their application is rejected.

List of training courses for chargers (in Finnish)

After successfully completing a charger’s course, the certificate applicant must participate in an interview with an expert appointed by the permit authority.

These experts are listed below in alphabetical order. The list includes their contact details and interview languages.

Kouvonen, Tomi
Construction Engineer (UAS)
tel. +358 40 869 0527, email [email protected]
Interview languages: Finnish, Swedish and English

Leinonen, Jorma
Mountain Engineer
tel. +358 40 018 0130, email [email protected]
Interview languages: Finnish and English

Martikainen, Pekka
Lecturer
tel. +358 50 430 0530, email [email protected]
Interview languages: Finnish, Russian

Salonen, Jouko
Excavation Engineering Specialist and Head of Training
tel. +358 50 520 1189, email [email protected]
Interview languages: Finnish and English

As the competent permit authority, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland supervises and directs all charger training. Any basic and refresher courses for chargers must always include a course leader. The course leader must notify the Regional State Administrative Agency of the course’s arrangement no later than 14 days before the course is set to begin.

A notification of the arrangement of the charger training must be submitted to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency at [email protected].

Forms related to charger training

Notification of the arrangement of charger training (PDF, in Finnish)

Charger training feedback questionnaire (PDF, in Finnish)

List of attendees who completed the training (PDF, in Finnish)

List of attendees who completed the interview

As the competent permit authority, the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland maintains a charger’s certificate register in accordance with the Charger Act. The register is not public.

For more information on the charger’s certificate register, please contact the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland, tel. +358 295 016 000 (switchboard).

Certificate holder’s obligation to notify

• The holder of a charger's certificate must notify the Regional State Administrative Agency without delay of any changes in their health if those changes might affect their ability to work as a charger.

Employer's right to notify

• The employer of the charger's certificate holder has the right to notify the Regional State Administrative Agency of any issues that have come to their attention that may affect the validity of the certificate. The notification must be submitted in writing.

The police’s obligation to notify

• The police must immediately inform the Regional State Administrative Agency if they discover any significant factors that may affect the validity of the charger's certificate.

Health care professional’s right to notify

• For a justified reason, doctors and other health care professionals have the right to notify the Regional State Administrative Agency of a person they consider to be unfit to operate as a charger on the basis of their patient data and after meeting the person face-to-face, regardless of any confidentiality obligations.
• To report a person, use the Health care professional’s notification of a person who is unsuitable to work as a charger (PDF, in Finnish).