A quarry manager ensures that the operation of a quarry is carried out in a profitable, efficient, and safe manner. While every quarry will have its own unique challenges and requirements, certain duties are common at any quarry. The manager must ensure that the quarry runs smoothly, meeting production quotas, ensuring worker safety, making personnel decisions, and overseeing equipment management.
Some of the manager's duties will be carried out from a desk. A modern quarry manager must have computer skills and be familiar with business and materials management software. He or she is responsible for seeing that the the quarry maintains profitability through budget and production management.
Equipment and supplies must be ordered, orders for product must be taken and filled, and proper personnel levels maintained. Some larger operations may have employees to whom these and other office duties, like payroll, are delegated. The manager must oversee these employees.
Many countries and other jurisdictions have laws and regulations regarding mines, quarries, their workers, and operations. A quarry manager must be familiar with these and ensure that these laws are obeyed. He or she must keep up with changes to these laws and regulations as well. They may include environmental, safety, and labor regulations. These laws and changes to them must be communicated to the quarry employees and compliance enforced.
A good manager will spend some of his or her time out in the quarry itself. Equipment and vehicles must be inspected and maintenance orders and logs checked. The manager must ensure that communication between various departments is maintained. Quarrying operations must be observed and monitored for safety, efficiency and product quality. Decisions regarding the direction of new operations are generally handled by the quarry manager as well.
Staff must be evaluated in the field for performance and adherence to all applicable regulations. When necessary, the manager must take disciplinary action. Personnel levels must be managed according to need to maintain optimum efficiency and profitability. Most managers will handle hiring of key personnel themselves but may delegate the hiring of lower tier employees to a human resources department or representative while monitoring these functions.
Communicating with ownership is another key element of a quarry manager's duties. He or she must be able to provide information on profits, efficiency, safety and production and to implement the directives and desires of ownership in all of these areas as well.