WINTER 2019 AVENUES 25 CAREER PROFILE Q: What is your position and what are your responsibilities? I am the environmental manager and part of our Technical Services department at Brampton Brick Limited, and I’m mainly responsible for the regulatory compliance of our facilities. These are a mix of a shale quarries, clay brick and concrete manufac- turing facilities. I keep in regular contact with environmental regulations, updated environmental approvals, procedures, and any regulated reporting, including green- house gas management or NPRI (National Pollutant Release Inventory). I’m also the main point of contact with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. I assist with changes to site plans, rehabilitation efforts and any mitiga- tion to be done on site. As well, I address any complaints received from the public and meet with them directly at stakeholder meetings or through our complaint process. Q: What is it about your job that other people wish they got to do? I have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of manufacturing. I’m able to work on site plans before a site has been licensed, on the sourcing of raw material, some aspects of manufacturing and I even work in the yards before product shipping. This also includes working with our IT, Technical Services, and financial departments since the environmental sector touches nearly every department. I’ve been able to meet almost everyone in our organization and work with them, which is something I really value. Q: What do you find most challenging in your work? The biggest challenge is what also makes the job the most fun – keeping up with the schedule! Due to the wide array of respon- sibilities and sites that we have, you can be at the quarry in the pouring rain and mud one moment, then have a formal meeting in the afternoon. As well, each project for each site is unique and it can be challenging to keep on top of all of the moving pieces. Our sites all have different contractors, consul- tants and challenging areas; the same project in different sites will look and be managed very differently. Q: Describe your typical day on the job and how the work you do contributes to your company. A normal day is usually a combination of working in the office managing projects or on site. Project management includes speaking to site managers, contractors, consultants and reviewing or providing reports. Working at our sites is comprised of conducting environmental audits and sampling. We conduct regular environ- mental audits to ensure our sites are well maintained, and potential risks to the envi- ronment from our operations are addressed. For sampling, we take regular samples of the air and surface water as part of our environ- mental approvals to ensure we comply with our approvals and MECP criteria. There is always a need to ensure the envi- ronment and your neighbours are looked after while maintaining the operations of the company. Environment and industry are typically seen as conflicting forces, but they don’t have to be. It’s not always an easy path to balance the two, but ultimately limiting the environmental footprint of operations is positive for operations, workers and neigh- bours. Dust mitigation is an example of this: mitigating dust on-site can be an operational Multitasker extraordinaire Juggling lots of moving pieces keeps Lauren Mulkerns on her toes MY JOB R-O-C-K-S! The Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association boasts nearly 300 member companies, employing more than 7,000 people whose roles are directly related to the aggregate industry. Each of these people has a unique and interesting story to tell about how they came to work in aggregate! While we can’t interview them all, this regular feature highlights the diverse and interesting careers available within the industry, and showcases the people who make a difference to their companies and their communities. Want to learn even more?  Visit ossga.com/my_job_rocks CONTINUED ON PAGE 27