Hundreds of Builds.
Five Years. Zero Injuries.
- Summer 2025
- Cranemasters
Cranemasters is proud to announce that on June 9th, its North Chesterfield division reached a significant milestone—five years of injury-free operations. This is the Cranemasters’ engineering and manufacturing facility. Over the past 2 ½ years, Cranemasters has completed 55 point-of-sale orders, 27 large builds or rebuilds of cranes, trucks, and other major components for customers, and 299 internal jobs for its use.
North Chesterfield Engineering and Manufacturing custom designs and builds heavy-lift equipment. It’s also Cranemasters’ corporate headquarters, where executive management and key managerial and support staff are located.
In addition to roughly 40 employees in corporate, the North Chesterfield division has six engineers who design and produce technical specifications, and approximately 20 highly skilled mechanics and tradesmen who manufacture. The fact that they’ve been able to do so much work without incident or injury is an accomplishment worth celebrating. They’re not more or less on call or exposed to emergency railroad work. Yet, they are loading raw materials, cutting steel up to two inches thick, welding, grinding, fabricating, assembling and joining mechanicals, installing electrical and hydraulics, and painting. Each project and every task has the potential for an injury, all of which have been entirely mitigated by the North Chesterfield division for five consecutive years.
How One Team Builds a “Safety Always“ Workplace
When asked how the Engineering and Manufacturing staff contribute to safe operations, Aubrey Amadeo, COO, (shown here with the plasma cutter) credits preparation and floor leadership. “I cannot say enough good things about the foremen and lead engineers that we have. They are experienced, talented leaders whom people listen to and can rely on. And they are good at planning things out for efficiency and productivity while always considering where there are risks.”
Pre-work Plan
Typically, the foremen develop a day’s work plan one or more days in advance. Every workday begins with the 6 a.m. Job Safety Briefing led by our foremen, including stretching exercises, an accounting of work to be done, and safety hazards to avoid—all broken down for each person. As a result, everyone knows their assignment for the day, which tools they’ll use, what PPE they’ll need, and which safety hazards to avoid. And everyone is looking out for one another, especially new hires, making sure they’re aware of the hazards and how to avoid them.
Welding, working heavy steel, and lifting crane assemblies is risky business. We depend on each other and the Cranemasters safety program so we leave with the same number of fingers and toes as when we showed up for work.
The foremen concur, “We all agree that we need to have a plan and work that plan. If something new is introduced, a change in the process or new criteria, anything like that, then you change the plan, but you still have a plan and you still work the plan.”
Worker Input Occasionally, changes are made to the shop’s layout for efficiency and safety, or to make room for new equipment.
For example, storage locations for parts and equipment were moved to increase floor space. That changed where workers needed flash curtains for protection. To solve the issue, the crew hung a line across the shop with an extendable and retractable flash curtain.
Often, the people doing the work are the ones coming up with solutions for a more efficient and safer workplace. And our people are always talking with and listening to one another, so the best ideas tend to surface.
Post-work Review
Every day at 4:15 p.m., a group of leaders, including foremen, managers, and lead engineers, walk through the building looking for any hazards. The objective is to identify any issues that require attention in the next day’s plan, including housekeeping matters, risks, or changes that have occurred over the last 24 hours. Perhaps it’s equipment that has been moved, creating a tripping hazard or worn wiring on an electric tool. Then, work can stop at about 4:30 p.m. Between starting the day off right and ending the day with a review, the team eliminates preventable hazards.
Cranemasters Celebrates Safety Accomplishments
Cranemasters is celebrating with all 65 employees from North Chesterfield in honor of their achievement. We’ve rented a pavilion at the stadium during a Richmond Flying Squirrels Baseball game, where they’ll be serving food for everyone and passing out gifts during the game. Our incredible employees will have a good time creating lasting memories as part of our Cranemasters family.
