Quarry Manager

The role of the Quarry Manager is to direct and oversee quarry operations. This includes safety and risk management, production, maintenance, sales, and personnel. The scope of the Quarry Manager’s role can vary greatly, depending on the size and nature of the organisation.

Every state/territory has legislation which requires the appointment of a Quarry Manager. While the specific requirements vary in each state/territory, in all instances the Quarry Manager must be competent, with the appropriate range and level of skills and knowledge to manage operations.

Some states and territories have minimum qualification requirements for Quarry Managers. This may include Certificate IV Surface Extraction Operations or Diploma of Surface Operations Management. The IQA has referral partnerships with Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in place to support access to these courses.

All IQA courses are mapped to the maintenance of competency schemes in each state/territory.

STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

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Quarry Managers need to develop and maintain competency in five key areas:

Safety and Risk Management

Safety is critical to business operations - ensuring that all work on a site can be carried out safely, without causing harm to people, equipment or the environment. While production targets and timeframes require significant time and attention from a Quarry Manager, safety is the highest priority.

Quarry Managers must be able to establish and implement systems and procedures for safe operations. This includes the ability to identify and assess risks and hazards and apply systems for risk control. In particular, principal or high risk hazards must be addressed, such as ground or strata failure, inundation and airborne contaminants.

Quarry Managers must have an in-depth understanding of the legislative and regulatory requirements for their relevant state/territory, and ensure all operations are compliant. In addition, they must ensure their staff have the required competencies and skills to undertake the tasks of their role.

A Quarry Manager must also ensure that they have an appropriately qualified and/or competent person to take on the role should they go on leave or fall ill. Depending on the state/territory, if a quarry manager is absent from their role for more than 14 days and does not have a suitably qualified/competent person undertaking the role, the quarry can be shut down.

This also raises the need for succession planning in a quarry. Continuing to ensure your staff are suitably qualified and undertaking regular professional development, means the quarry can be looked after in the future.

Topics	IQA Education Courses
Safety and Risk Management Systems (Establish/Audit)	Hazard Identification Contractor Management Introduction to Safety Management Systems Effective Risk Management Leading HSE for Senior Managers Strategy in HSE for Senior Leaders Critical Control Management
Specific Hazards and Controls (Principal Hazard Management Plans)	Electrical Awareness Quarry Roads and Onsite Vehicle Safety Plant and Equipment Slope Stability RCS Learning from Disasters Mental Health Drug and Alcohol
Legislation

Leadership and Management

Quarries can’t operate without people. Quarry Managers must have sufficient leadership and communication skills to manage the workforce. This includes the ability to lead and mentor staff and work teams, consult with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation, and effectively manage change.

Topics	IQA Education Courses
Management (Organisational) Change Management	Leading HSE for Senior Managers
Leadership Communication	Supervising for Safety Consultation
Training Systems	Under development
Community Engagement	Under development
Mental Health	Mental Health Awareness and Wellbeing Mental Health and Wellbeing for Managers Bullying & Harassment

Emergency Management

Quarries can be hazardous places and incidents do happen. Under legislation, employers are required to have sufficient plans in place to respond to emergencies which may occur on site.

The Quarry Manager is responsible to plan for emergencies, based on site risk assessment, and ensure sufficient expertise and equipment is in place to respond quickly and effectively. Quarry Managers must also understand how to conduct effective investigations of incidents that do occur, and apply learnings and improvements.

Topics	IQA Products and Courses
Emergency Management Planning	Emergency Management RIIERR40E Apply and monitor emergency preparedness and response systems in surface operations RIIERR503D Implement emergency preparedness and response systems RIIERR601E Establish and maintain mine emergency preparedness and response systems
Incident Investigation	Incident Investigation Incident Investigations - Psychological cases

Operations

Quarry operations can vary greatly in size and nature. Quarry Managers must be able to plan and oversee operational systems which achieve organisational goals, while maintaining health, safety, and environmental outcomes. This includes systems and processes for production, maintenance, and quality assurance.

Quarry Managers must also understand their environmental obligations and see that operations are carried out in a sustainable and responsible way.

Topics	IQA Products and Courses
Operational Planning	Quarry Roads and Onsite Vehicle Safety Plant and Equipment
Environmental Planning Sustainability	Under development
Quality Systems	Quarry Products Technical Training
Maintenance Systems	Plant and Equipment: Maintenance

Personal Effectiveness

For any manager, self-awareness is essential for effective leadership. This includes understanding personal strengths and weaknesses, communication and leadership styles, attitudes, biases and perspectives, and their impact on interactions with others.

Topics	IQA Education Courses
Diversity and Inclusion	Annual diversity and inclusion day WIQ events YMN events
Interpersonal Communication	Under development