FACE TO FACE
Simon Tose, outgoing chairman of the
Institute of Quarrying.
Tose explains that this process started
with some “housekeeping” of the board of
directors, removing the names of people
who had died or retired, and bringing in
new blood; bringing in new technology to
better serve the membership and offer them
value for money for their membership fees,
all the while keeping costs to a minimum.
“Members essentially pay their dues for
training,” explains Tose, and the focus of his
term in office became “getting a breath of
fresh air back into training”.
“If you look at the Mine Health &
Safety Act that quarrying falls under,
to be a manager of, for instance, a gold
mine there are certain qualifications that
www.quarryonline.co.za
are required legally. Yet if you look at a
two-man quarry operation, the manager
is often there either because he bought the
quarry and now runs it, or he’s come from
a larger quarry with some knowledge of
mechanics, electrical and crushing. Blasting
is a small portion of quarrying. My focus
was on how an individual can realistically
become a qualified quarry manager. I spent
time with the IOQ UK, which has a good
online system in modular form. This means
students can study at their own pace and
at their own convenience. The nice thing
about it is that it is a training programme
approved under UK law – they meet the
standards to become a quarry manager
in the UK. We’ve now entered into an
agreement with IOQ UK to bring their
training here, and eventually to tailor it to
South African regulations,” says Tose.
“We’ve achieved an important starting
point in the qualification process. If
someone wants to become a quarry
manager in South Africa from now on,
they can enrol with us (and consequently
will not have to pay the UK rates, which
with the unfavourable exchange rate are
currently unaffordable) giving a fixed
rand price.” They have the same system
in Australia, and this is what has been
missing here in South Africa. One of the
remaining challenges locally is whether it
will ultimately fall under the DMR, the CIE
or the Department of Labour.
It is, of necessity, the UK curriculum
developed by the University of Derby, but
Tose notes that “it is a start” and localisation
issues will be sorted out over time. What
would make it easier, he adds, is if people
were to enrol in volume – making the
economics of tailoring it and passing it
through the NQF system much easier,
including valuable input that would be
received from students. This was announced
at the April conference, and it will be
launched later this year, says Tose.
“As things stand, there are obviously
differences in the law and environmental
issues, but most of the building blocks
are there – and graduates will earn an
international qualification.” IOQSA’s
training is all member related, while
Aspasa’s training is skills or operationally
related for companies.
While this will continue to be a key
focus for his successor, Lazarus Meko (see
interview page 40), Tose notes that an
emerging focus for the coming years is the
move to create a global body among quarry
organisations. “This drive stems from
the fact that a lot of the industry today is
inter-connected. Cement manufacturers in
particular are multinationals, as are many
asphalt manufacturers, and there is a need
to standardise the product from quarries.
The same applies to quarry managers – he
needs to be eligible to work in, say, Hong
Kong, to the same standard as in South
Africa. The various IOQs are doing a
survey to see how each compares and to
standardise the training.”
South Africa has about 250 to 300
IOQSA members, Hong Kong about 75 and
the UK over 2 500. Greater co-operation
would assist in greater connectivity and
linked resources among organisations
would facilitate information sharing on
matters such as suppliers of various plant
and equipment, to create a global database.
QUARRY SA | JULY/AUGUST 2019_29