IQA NEWS
Frank Pedretti oversaw the $4 million plant upgrade at Lobethal Quarry, which he managed for 22 years.
FRANK PEDRETTI:
SIMPLE IDEAS WITH BIG IMPACT Frank Pedretti’s reputation for mixing his sound technical knowledge with an unrelenting passion for quarrying has earned him the title as the 2019 IQA Quarry Manager of the Year. The Boral manager reflects on career achievements that have led him to this point.
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he adage “to stand still is to go backwards” is one that is pertinent to quarrying. For operations to demonstrate best practice and maximise productivity, they need an innovator and visionary at the helm with the determination to see projects to the end. Frank Pedretti is an operator who, according to his peers, boasts these credentials plus more. As such, the experienced quarry manager and mentor is the deserved recipient of the 2019 IQA Quarry Manager of the Year Award (less than 10 full-time employees category – or <10FTE). The quarry support manager for Boral in South Australia (SA) and former manager of Lobethal Quarry received the prestigious accolade at the IQA 2019 Conference in Geelong. Each year the award, sponsored by Metso, recognises an individual quarry operator who has shown personal commitment and leadership in occupational health and safety (OHS) and demonstrated
broad industry knowledge of areas of safety, risk, environment and operations. According to his colleagues, Pedretti is renowned for once leading the most engaged and high performing team within Boral’s SA business. He has also carved out a reputation for implementing low cost continuous improvements. His simple ideas have had a big impact on safety and productivity across numerous Boral operations. “In my final years of working, to get this award is really satisfying and has put the icing on the cake of my career. As much as I want to retire, I enjoy and love what I do,” the 66-year-old said, after being nominated by his Boral colleagues. For Pedretti, receiving the award is the ultimate validation of a career that began in 1975 as a 21-year-old driller. Back then, he left his home in Broken Hill, on the western border of New South Wales, for SA to work for Boral, known as Quarry Industries at the time, before venturing into concrete production.
A few years later, in 1984, he realised a brighter future awaited in quarrying, prompting his return to Boral. The move set him on the path to becoming an integral part of the company’s SA business where today his 36 years of industry expertise are not only sought out by other quarry managers, but by people in all levels of the company.
RAISING THE STANDARD One of Pedretti’s proudest achievements has been his 22-year tenure as manager of Lobethal Quarry in the Adelaide Hills, a position he departed in July 2018 to assume his current mentoring role as Boral’s SA quarry support manager. Under his tutelage, Lobethal was transformed into an automated, highly efficient operation that is recognised as the cleanest and safest fixed plant area within Boral’s SA business. A major factor in this transformation was a $4 million plant upgrade in 2015. Pedretti oversaw Quarry March 2020 35