A highlight from October’s Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) National Conference and Exhibition was the awards section of the Gala Dinner. It featured a new award which has been some years in the making. Awarded by CICA, the UAA Safety Award acknowledges a consistent commitment to safe work practices. The inaugural winner is Universal Cranes.
George Grasso UAA’s Executive General Manager, Claims and Procurement provides the background to the award.
Over many years of attending CICA Conferences, George has been impressed with the development of the industry which is reflected in the quality of entries in the CICA Lift of the Year Awards sponsored by Cranes and Lifting.
“The incredible achievements of our industry are well reflected in the quality of the entries we see each year in the various categories of the Lift of the Year Awards. The lifts can be months and months in the planning, involve a high degree of precision and engineering to deliver the projects on time and in full,” he said.
“While watching a presentation a few years ago, we reflected on what CICA represents: a commitment to continuous industry improvement. That’s when it became clear that the awards were missing something truly meaningful.
“The inception of CICA was brought about by the industry saying, ‘We need our own association to work on the many industry issues we need to tackle. We need to make sure we reduce the risks that occur, ensuring wherever possible, workers who leave early for work, return home safely at night, every day.”
CICA safety initiatives
“There are so many policies, processes and procedures which have been tested and trialed over this time and have proven to work and improve safety standards,” George said. “These include CICA-developed initiatives such as CrewSafe, CraneSafe and StartSafe. Although CraneSafe is voluntary, it has become so well recognised by principal contractors, that cranes aren’t allowed onsite without the ‘CICA Green sticker.”
George then began thinking about UAA’s value propositions and what they stand for in the industry.
UAA is not just about providing an insurance product and policy, although they do it very well. It’s not just about charging premiums or helping customers through the claims process and then paying claims.
UAA is also focused on reducing risk and helping the industry identify trends and developing risk mitigation strategies for entities to adopt and reduce exposure. George concluded there was a significant alignment between UAA’s culture and ethos and CICA’s.
“I felt an award was missing that acknowledged the true ethos of safety awareness and the award should recognise a business for best practice when it comes to workplace safety. I shared the idea with CICA Chief Executive Officer Brandon Hitch, and he was supportive. We then needed to define the right criteria for selecting the winner and determine how best to recognise the chosen candidate,” said George.
He and UAA concluded there would be a monetary value and that this should be used to support ongoing CICA initiatives such as CraneSafe, Crewsafe and StartSafe.
“We agreed to fund a voucher to the value of $5000 which the winning entity can use to reduce some of their expenses around utilising CICA’s safety initiatives. We left it with CICA to determine which entity utilises those initiatives and is focused on best safe work practices. This year CICA determined Universal Cranes should be the first recipient of the UAA Safety Award and we congratulate Albert, Ben, Joe and the entire team.
“We hope the UAA Safety Award will help sharpen the industry’s focus on safety. Insurance premiums are a direct relation to losses that occur in the industry and as the leading insurance company we want the industry to mitigate against risk. When this happens, we can contribute to the sustainability of the industry by reducing insurance costs wherever possible,” said George.
NOT just ticking a box
Hitch said that from CICA’s perspective the award recognises and strengthens a culture where safety isn’t just a tick box exercise but a shared responsibility, taken seriously.
“It’s about looking out for your team, having the confidence to speak up when something doesn’t feel right, and recognising that nothing is more important than people going home to their loved ones at the end of the day,” he said. “We appreciate UAA sponsoring this award to honour those who go the extra mile to reinforce and lift safety standards in their business.”
Universal Cranes: living life saving commitments
Luke Brushe, Branch Manager for Universal Cranes Central Queensland said the company was proud to be the inaugural recipient of the UAA Safety Award.
“For us safety isn’t a box to tick, it means going home to our loved ones every day,” Luke said.
“In general hire, every job is different. No two sites, lifts, or setups are ever the same, so the crew always needs to be thinking ahead. And it’s not just about the lifts we do, the trip to and from the job is just as important. How we plan, how we load up, how we travel, how we arrive on site, how we complete the lifts… it all matters.
“A big part of that is living our Life Saving Commitments every day, stopping work when something isn’t right, following road rules, assessing risks properly, making sure we’re fit for work, managing vehicle loads, and never working under a suspended load without verified support. These commitments help guide how we operate and keep our people safe.
“We’re strong supporters of industry safety initiatives like CICA’s CraneSafe, CrewSafe, and the On Road Articulated Mobile Crane course, because they keep our operators sharp and our equipment compliant. Receiving this award is great recognition for the Gladstone crew. It shows that the work we put into doing things the right way, and sticking to our safety commitments is being recognised, and it motivates us to keep improving.”
George hopes the UAA Safety Award will help sharpen industry focus on safety.
“Insurance premiums are a direct relation to losses that occur in the industry and as the leading insurance company we want the industry to mitigate against risk. When this happens, we can contribute to the sustainability of the industry by reducing insurance costs wherever possible,” he said.