IQ and MPQC to stand together at Hillhead 2024

20 June, 2024

Hillhead exhibition

First published in the May 2024 issue of Quarry Management

Membership organisations will showcase their value to industry

The Institute of Quarrying (IQ) and The Mineral Products Qualifications Council (MPQC) will be sharing stand H2 when they take part as exhibitors at Hillhead next month, from 25–27 June. Co-habiting on the one stand underlines their collaborative approach for the benefit of the mineral products sector. It will allow visitors to Hillhead to talk with both membership organisations and understand how, together, IQ and MPQC can achieve more for their respective members.

Joint chief executive officer James Thorne explains: ‘We understand that individuals and the businesses in our sector need consistency across the industry on topics that impact personal and commercial success. They need approved standards and regulated qualifications relevant to business needs as well as safety conscious and highly skilled employees who can access quality training and professional development for their own career progression. If you look at the work of IQ, the IQ branch network, and MPQC, you can see the breadth of our work as the clear bedrock supporting these needs.’

Understanding sector challenges

Mindful of the challenges facing the sector, both IQ and MPQC are bringing their expert teams to provide advice and guidance to show how membership of each organisation can effectively address pressing needs and provide opportunities for personal and business development.

The IQ/MPQC stand will be staffed to answer questions, with specialisms in areas such as membership, education and training, continuing professional development (CPD), future skills, industry standards and qualifications, apprenticeships, Minerals Matter, and the IQ Benevolent Fund (IQBF).

MPQC – Reinvesting into the sector

The purpose of MPQC as a membership organisation is to support the mineral products sector’s need for safe, competent, and sustainable workforces through the setting and maintaining of standards and regulated qualifications.

Members include the construction, quarrying, mineral products, mining sector and related manufacturing industries. The organisation has the support of major companies, trade associations and professional bodies within the sector. In fact, MPQC is owned and governed by the industry, led by a board of directors from major companies and trade associations.

In addition to the awarding body, MP Awards, and separate training division, MP Skills, MPQC administers MP Connect and champions Minerals Matter on behalf of the sector by reinvesting any surpluses into Minerals Matter. MPQC members can participate in specialist employer working groups regarding qualifications and apprenticeships. For example, MPQC is actively engaged in a consultation process regarding apprenticeships and welcomes any feedback on the current level two provision from visitors attending Hillhead.

IQ CPD Select Series

Hillhead visitors to stand H2 will experience a refreshed approach to CPD Select, tailored learning on demand for individuals’ and employer’s needs. With the same great accredited content as IQ’s qualifications launched on its new e-learning platform, the approach empowers learners and employers to obtain short, IQ-accredited units that can be completed as needed, individually, in bundles or in a bespoke package. The online delivery of these training units enables the learner to, with any device, progress their journey to competence through continuous professional development.

Self-Select lets individuals choose the knowledge most relevant to them now and in the future. Be it self-led, employer driven, or with guidance of the IQ Personal Development Wheel – IQ Self Select supports learners in acquiring the knowledge necessary to progress. This may be anything from geology, crushing and screening, to essentials such as health and safety.

IQ Select brings together the most salient units, based on a subject area or theme. Choosing IQ Select bundles can serve as a more cost-effective way to learn and provide a wider context of understanding for learners.

Employer Select enables expedient bespoke business-wide deployment and development by bringing together IQ’s own expansive content catalogue within a single offering for employees, as well as enhancing or help to build upon new areas of learning. It helps employers to address the CPD needs of their workforce, for IQ-supported CPD Excellence.

MP Connect aiding safety by reducing risk

Also on show will be MP Connect, a smart card and app scheme which aims to improve safety by proving individual competency and enforce its compliance to ensure anyone working on a quarry site as a driver or contractor is suitably qualified to do so. MP Connect can record site-specific inductions and be managed easily at the weighbridge or remotely, via the geo-fencing abilities of the app. Its use is mandatory to access many UK sites and is endorsed by other industry bodies including Mineral Products Association (MPA).

It is part of proving safety by compliance and by competency, both of which are key tenets of the work IQ and MPQC do.

IQ Connect

IQ Connect

Also, on stand H2 will be information about IQ Connect. This innovative, simple-to-navigate mobile app provides members with access to learning materials and the latest industry best practices, as well offering an option to browse and register for upcoming events. The app is a convenient and all-in-one pocket resource to manage IQ membership, easily record CPD activities, and includes access to a range of industry advice from the HSE and QNJAC, as well as the latest guide for handling soils in mineral workings. The app also curates past IQ webinars and factsheets mapped to IQ’s Personal Development Wheel.

IQ Personal Development Wheel

This is a tool that helps mineral products professionals map current skills and knowledge against the IQ Skills Wheel.

The tool serves as an extension of IQ’s Skills Wheel, allowing members to carry out an effective self-audit of knowledge and skills levels. Using the results of the audit, members can create a personalised development plan in the areas they wish to develop to achieve career goals.

Minerals Matter to welcome local students

On the third show day of Hillhead, Thursday 27 June, Minerals Matter will welcome a number of local school students to the stand, before giving them a guided tour of Hillhead with scheduled stops at other exhibitors’ stands, including Tarmac, EPC-UK, Wirtgen, SMT/Volvo, and CDE, where they will learn about the work of each of the companies and the breadth of career opportunities across the industry.

Minerals Matter future skills co-ordinator Hannah Higley explains: ‘This year we will be building on the successful school visit to Hillhead 2022. As part of our work, it is imperative that we work with schools and young people and provide opportunities to experience the work of the sector. As Hillhead is the key trade event on the calendar, we will be able to demonstrate the scale and significance of the sector, giving students insights into the variety of occupations and opportunities that they could aspire towards. We aim to show them the value of STEM subjects and how the sector is digitally savvy, with a real need for data and technology expertise that their generation has, and how they can shape their world.’

By working together IQ and MPQC can achieve more, offering access to expertise and structure for the benefit of their members and the sector. To pre-arrange meetings and interviews with IQ and MPQC at Hillhead, email advance requests to either: [email protected] or [email protected]