Image: Morgan receiving his Tomorrow’s Leader Award at the TDX-sponsored QuarryNZ conference award dinner in Hamilton this year.
Morgan Ringrose has worked at Winstone’s Whitehall Quarry for seven years as a supervisor in charge of the day-to-day running of the quarry.
Morgan was a recipient of a 2025 Tomorrow’s Leader Award at the QuarryNZ Conference in Hamilton this year.
He was nominated by Quarry Manager Shane Burrett for his strong communication skills with staff and clients. “He leads by example,” says Shane, “training his staff to a high level of operation and safety.”
Where were you raised and educated?
I was born in Dargaville and raised on a farm on the edge of Toka Toka Reserve which is 16 kilometres south of Dargaville.
All my schooling and first couple of jobs after 7th form/Year 13 was in Dargaville and this was my life until I moved to the big smoke in Auckland in 2003.
When did you become interested in pursuing a career in the industry?
As with most kids growing up, I always had an interest in trucks and loaders. I worked on mine sites in Western Australia but as a driller’s offsider.
In 2013, when returning home from six years in Perth with my wife and one year old son, I got the opportunity to step into this industry.
After the first six months at Waingaro Quarry in Ngaruawahia I was hooked. I decided then that I would make a career out of quarrying.
What job did you start off with?
I was initially hired as a loader operator, however my experience to date was driving a Kanga skid steer in Auckland for 12 months some 10 years previous.
I spent around a week learning the site, shovelling and hosing down the crushing plant, helping set up some pipe work for process water. Then a big project started with a mobile crusher, crushing GAP100.
I was put on a Doosan DL500 Loader and it was ‘hurry up and learn the job’. I was loading road trucks straight from the belt and then stockpiling.
After three days’ training, I was loading 12 trucks a run, with a 40-minute turnaround. I must have done something right because shortly after, when the older loader operator retired, I was put on a brand-new CAT 972. That was me for the next four years, operating a loader and studying for my B Grade Certificate.
What qualifications do you have/or are studying?
I currently hold a B Grade COC and I am working towards my A Grade Quarry Manager Certificate.
What is your current role? What does your role entail?
I am the Quarry Supervisor at Whitehall Quarry, which is located just south of Cambridge in the Waikato.
Reporting direct to the Quarry Manager, my role covers all aspects of quarry operations. I have 10 operators and their machines to look after, while ensuring Winstone Aggregates’ high safety standards are being followed by our staff and contractors.
I plan who is operating what each day, machine servicing and fixed plant maintenance, including contractor management. I plan what products we are producing, sampling and quality control.
That is my main role, however I also run the toolbox meetings, maintain environmental standards for consent conditions, carry out stock surveys and supply planning,
What does a typical workday look like for you?
A 5.30am start to prep for the 6am toolbox meeting when I run through the day’s plan with the crew.
Then I carry out a sweep of the quarry while the guys are pre-starting their machines. I usually get back to the office around 7am to update the QM on any issues and plan changes. The rest of the day would be mix of plant inspections, staff interactions, customers and quality control, quarry admin, compliance checks, safety updates, consent conditions, planning of plant maintenance/servicing, etc. Depends a lot on what is the priority for the day.
What do you like about your job?
The variety, no two days are the same. There is always a fire to put out somewhere – big, or small – and when there isn’t, you are planning for the next one.
What don’t you like about your job?
Sometimes it seems like the day never ends and it is hard to switch off from work life to home life.
In the back of your mind the thoughts of the day can still be running: a production or quality issue that hasn’t been resolved or an ongoing breakdown. It’s hard on family when you get home from an 11 to 12 hour day and then the phone rings another five times.
What are your career aspirations for the future?
Short term, I want to finish my A grade and move into a Quarry Manager position. Long term I would like to see myself in a position where I can oversee multiple quarry operations for a business in New Zealand.
How involved are you with the IOQ?
I am a member of the Waikato/BOP IOQ and on the committee for this branch. As part of the committee, I have started to assist with event planning and running of meetings.
Any advice for those joining our industry?
Quarrying is simple and complex at the same time. You extract rock/sand, you crush it/process it, then sell it. That’s the simple part.
The complex part is how you extract it and how you process it to make the product customers want to buy.
What I’m trying to say is, there is a role for everyone, – whether you want to be a dump truck operator, excavator operator, crushing plant operator, sales rep, quarry supervisor, quarry manager, lab technician, transport dispatcher, customer relations, geological engineer, environmental advisor, or H&S advisor.
The quarrying industry has, and offers, all of these.