Cranes serve a vital role in delivering utility assets, but without properly trained operators, these machines can pose a risk to budgets, timelines and safety.
Safety is paramount on any worksite, particularly in construction, where powered equipment, heavy materials and other hazards are commonplace.
Quinlan Cranes Founder and Director, Tom Quinlan, explained that one of the biggest safety concerns on a job site is the personnel.
“If the personnel aren’t trained correctly or their common sense doesn’t prevail, that’s where an accident starts and finishes,” Mr Quinlan said.
“As long as we keep up our training and our support, and even our team morale, we can keep worksites safe. And it’s important to communicate to people so that everyone’s on the same page.”
Quinlan Cranes Director, Sacha Sikka, said that when working with utilities, there are unique safety concerns to be aware of.
“The things you worry about most with utilities is that we’re working in and around a lot of live assets,” Mr Sikka said.
“Collisions or contact with any of those live assets is something that is always on your mind.”
No room to fail
Mr Quinlan said ensuring that you have the right, well-maintained machinery keeps equipment failures to a minimum.
“Many utilities are working in shutdown environments or within permits where you have a limited number of days to get the job done. So, you just can’t have cranes breaking down.
“We’re very big on supplying the right crane for the right job, even if we have to go and find the machine, we’ll find it. We also hold an ISO accreditation for Quality, Safety and Environment, and all our procedures are in line with that,” Mr Quinlan said.
“Our preventative maintenance system means that when we go to a site, especially a high-risk site, we can be confident that the crane will be in perfect working condition.”
Mr Sikka said that in the utilities industry, where projects are often high risk, it’s important to work with a provider that is reputable and committed to excellence.
“In the utility space, people understand the importance of doing things properly. We’re in the industry of doing things right the first time and not coming back.”
For Quinlan Cranes, this means ensuring that all its team members are well-trained and equipped with the right knowledge and tools to tackle complex projects.
“You know what you’re going to get from us. Sacha and I are directors at the company but we’re still out there looking at jobs and talking to our customers. We’re in there from the start, planning and looking at the ways we can mitigate these risks that are inherent in our industry,” Mr Quinlan said.
Mr Sikka said that this approach enabled Quinlan Cranes to help restore power after extreme weather knocked down six high voltage towers in Anakie during the February 2024 storms.
“They called us to come out there because even though there was a big push, they could trust us to maintain all our safety non-negotiables,” Mr Sikka said.
“Good people, good planning – that’s what we do.”
For more information, visit quinlancranes.com.au
Featured image: one of the biggest safety concerns on a job site is the personnel. Image: Quinlan Cranes.
