In our veteran profile series, in association with the IOQ, Q&M magazine talks to a leader in the extraction industry, Brian Bouzaid, about his long and varied career.
What was your introduction to the extraction industry?
I returned from working in Adelaide in 1988 and a good friend of mine, Alex Mathieson, was the manager of the Milburn-owned (now Holcim NZ) Owhiro Bay Quarry. Alex was looking for someone to operate a small mobile plant at their Scotts Quarry in the Hutt Valley. I knew nothing about quarrying but said yes, and the rest is history.
First job and career path?
On leaving school I worked for the Wellington City Council in its Parks and Reserves area for a year before moving on to the Wellington fruit markets for more money and hours. I stayed there till I had saved enough to buy into a waste collection business in Wellington as an owner driver.
I ran this business for 10 years and learnt a lot about running a business, from the maintenance of your truck through to sales and being self-employed. I sold the business to Waste Management on their entry into the market in 1987.
I then went to Adelaide where I worked for a year in a demolition and salvage business until I returned to Wellington where I started work at Scotts Quarry. I transferred to Milburn’s Owhiro Bay Quarry where I gained, by shot-firing, a B-Grade through to an A-Grade certificate.
I then applied for a job with McConnell Dowell as Quarry Manager on a cyclone recovery project in Western Samoa on the island of Savai’i. I worked on this through to its completion. In early 2004 I returned to Wellington where my friend Brett Denison was now working as the quarry manager at the local council’s Kiwi Point Quarry. Brett let me know they needed a night shift manager. Six months later Brett left to go overseas so I was appointed quarry manager.
My time at Kiwi Point was both challenging and rewarding and I stayed there until 2021, when Holcim sold the quarry back to the Wellington City Council. While working at Kiwi Point, I managed the site under three different owners: the Council, Atom Hire (Alex Mathieson) and then Holcim.
What have been your career highlights?
Working in this industry has allowed me to meet so many interesting people and suppliers both in this country and across the world.
Through my work at Kiwi Point I was able to convince the Wellington City Council on the strategic value of having access to quarry resources and its value to the greater Wellington economy. Not that every council needs to own a quarry, but they do need to understand why ensuring zoning and protection of a quarry resource is so important. Consequently, the Wellington City Council was the first in our country to acknowledge the strategic importance of quarries to the growth of the city.
Another highlight was being presented with my Honorary Fellowship through to the position of IOQ NZ President and having represented the NZ Branch at IOQ International events in South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom.
What has been your career low points and worst career experience?
The worst career experience would have to be seeing someone injured at work, and this includes myself. I recall very clearly the day I went to work at Owhiro Bay Quarry and saw a rock in the tail drum of a conveyor that was suspended off the platform.
Instead of running the plant out and stopping the conveyor, I made the decision to stick my hand in to grab the rock – only to have the conveyor drum grab my arm and draw me in. I must have knocked myself out because I woke up on the platform. I still suffer from this injury today so make sure I share what I learnt from this experience to prevent it happening to anyone else.
Generally, I have had many career low points but it’s important to see the signs, take action and then share what you’ve learnt with others.
The best advice you ever got.
You can’t win or have it all, and sometimes having a share is better than nothing at all.
Reflections on extraction past and present?
Over my career our industry has grown hugely through the developments suppliers have made. And possibly more so in explosives, where my introduction was to dynamite, through to the early packaged or hand-mixed ANFO.
At the same time, we have seen the introduction of some amazing mobile crusher and screening plants. I recall working for McConnell Dowell in Samoa when I was told there was a new mobile plant there supplied by Keith Neiderer, so I thought ‘this is cool’.
On arriving, I realised what a Neiderer mobile plant was: a static plant that Keith had placed on a trailer or fixed conveyors he had made mobile.
When did you first become involved with the IOQ?
I was introduced to the IOQ by Brett Denison, the quarry manager at Owhiro Bay, when I entered the quarrying industry in 1988. Brett invited me to a local IOQ branch meeting.
From here I was hooked. I met lots of industry leaders who were only too keen to share their knowledge with me. At that time applications were sent to the IOQ in the UK, and I was accepted as a student. As I gained qualifications and time in the industry, I was able to upgrade through to ‘full member’ status in 1997.
In 1996 I became Wellington Branch Chair and in 1998 I was elected on to the NZ IOQ board. In 2003 I became the IOQ President. In 2007 I was privileged to then be presented with my Honorary Fellow membership by the late Russell Vickers.
Through the local Wellington branch we had a range of senior industry members, including Ken Ludlam, Gibb Stuart and Keith Max. All had served as local branch Chairs before going through to the national executive. Both Ken and Gibb served as NZ Chairman, and it was through their support that I started on the local committee. I was then elected to the NZ board where members such as Rodney Cotton and Bill Bond helped train me in board governance.
Looking back and comparing those meetings to today’s governance, I recall board meetings in Auckland where many members smoked at the board table – a common practice then.
IOQ highlights?
These would start with the IOQ History project. I launched this project at the 2004 Taupo conference. The project involved recording the NZ Branch’s history and its members.
With help from Russell Vickers, Gibb Stuart and Trevor Tamblyn, I quickly started gathering boxes of information, photos and technical papers going back to the first IOQ NZ conference. I am very proud of this work that has allowed the Institute to publish several books and house all the past and present technical papers on its webpage.
I received the Caernarfon Award in 2004 for my work on minimising the environmental effects of operating an urban quarry at Kiwi Point.
At the time of my entry, New Zealand had only won this award once, and that was Brian Bartley in 1989. So, I saw it as a huge achievement for us to win it again. When you read the winners list today, we have won this prestigious award seven times against international entries.
Launching the IOQ newsletter and webpage are a couple of big wins for me, and I’m pleased we have been able to keep producing the newsletter and have such a successful webpage to keep our members informed.
A lot of this was really down to Murray Discombe and his knowledge of webpages. Thanks Murray!
My biggest challenge was to employ an IOQ secretary and a joint conference secretary and document the procedures for IOQ NZ. These were no easy tasks but, as I gained more board experience and took on the vice president role, I knew we could not continue the way we had operated.
Conferences were run year by year by IOQ branch members which, while successful, involved ‘reinventing the wheel’ every year and increasing our risks. So, Eric Souchon, Bruce Taylor and I prepared a conference guide and employed a conference secretariat, which has been a great success for both the IOQ and AQA.
IOQ secretary work had been undertaken by volunteers and, while all provided a great service to the Institute (many with the support of their employers), if we were to grow then we needed to formalize this work and ensure we had a consistent approach. With the board’s support, Russell and I advertised and secured the services of Christine Dodds who worked for the IOQ for many years and, through her excellent work, and now that of Petrina Torstonson, who is the current National Secretary/Treasurer of IOQNZ, this remains a key role for the Institute.
Friendships made and mentors to thank?
While I have certainly made many friends and had lots of mentors throughout my career, I do value the time, advice and guidance provided to me by fellow members like Alex Mathieson, Brett Denison, Paul Warren, Trevor Tamblyn, Colin Welsh and Ben Hussey.
Advice for someone entering an extraction career?
I started knowing absolutely nothing but through gaining my quarry certificates and joining the IOQ I have been able to progress through to national President.
My advice would be don’t sit on the fence and wait. Join the industry, gain a qualification and learn as much as you can across all areas of a quarry and about the business in general. This will provide a solid base for both your own personal growth and career.
Brian Bouzaid is currently the National Aggregates Manager for Holcim (New Zealand) and is a very experienced quarry business leader with more than 35 years’ experience in the extractives sector, both here and overseas. He has also held several board positions, including inaugural Chair of MinEx and Chair of the Extractive Industry Training Organisation (EXITO) through to its merger with MITO, where Brian is the current Inspiring Futures Foundation Industry Council Chair and a member of the WorkSafe Board of Examiners.
Brian is also an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying (IOQ) and has been a member of its Executive Board, including serving as President. In 2018 he was presented with the Quarry Industry Leadership award for his services to the quarry industry.
