Institute of Quarrying celebrates centennial
The Institute of Quarrying (IQ) plans to celebrate its 100th anniversary with a series of member and public events designed to share the role that the aggregate sector fulfills in people’s everyday lives.
IQ’s roots trace back to 1917, when four quarry workers from Wales sought to provide a professional body to represent and support individuals working in the mineral extractives sector, IQ says. The group is now a global network with more than 5,000 members. It also has 13 branches in the United Kingdom and offices in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa.
“Quarrying and the mineral extractives industries are fundamentally embedded in modern society,” says Miles Watkins, president of IQ. “But we’ve been quarrying for millennia. We take quarry products very much for granted, but without them, our lives would be very different.
“As an industry, we have come a very long way over the last 100 years,” Watkins adds. “Now we’re casting our sights on the opportunities for the next century. That’s about further enhancing the sector’s reputation as a career that’s open equally to women and men, encouraging greater diversity in the workplace, as well as creating a more joined-up global approach to what we do and how we do it.”
IQ plans to share more details about its upcoming centennial events online.