62
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
JUNE
2014
EQUIPMENT
“Operating cranes involves a great
deal more than just lifting loads
and moving them from one place
to another. In its quest for providing
a holistic lifting package, Johnson Crane Hire
adopted the SMART (Safety, Maintenance,
Availability, Reliability and Total cost effec-
tiveness) philosophy as its business credo.”
Running the largest mobile crane fleet in
Africa is a huge undertaking, so it is impor-
tant that the company approach each lift
with due diligence and care. “We provide cost
effective total lifting solutions, appropriate
to individual customer requirements. Oper-
ating large cranes is a specialised field that
needs careful planning. Elements such as CAD
rigging studies, comprehensive assessments,
method statements and risk assessments
must all be factored in,” Yaman explains.
Due to the nature of heavy lifts, Johnson
Crane Hire places safety at the top of its
checklist. This entails ensuring that all lifting
equipment is kept in optimum condition
through regular, proactive maintenance
schedules and ongoing inspections by third
party inspectorates.
Comprehensive workshop
Workshop facilities, technical expertise and
superior systems have earned Johnson Crane
Hire the reputation of owning the most well
maintained lifting equipment in Africa. “All
our branches are equipped to undertake
maintenance and our mechanics are capable
of completing various levels of repair. Major
repair work is undertaken at the comprehen-
sively equipped national workshop based in
Germiston, Gauteng,” adds Yaman.
In addition to the systematic upkeep of
the company’s machines, Johnson Crane Hire
has a team of highly skilled and trained oper-
ators. Not only are the operators well versed
in the actual operation of the cranes, but they
are also completely familiarised with the
application of comprehensively documented
and implemented safety systems. Compli-
ance with industry safety standards ensures
that these systems and the risk assessments
conducted before each lift form an integral
part of the safety culture ingrained in every
Johnson Crane Hire employee.
Yaman says that staff turnover in the
company is remarkably low, with many
employees clocking up service records of 30
years and more. “Many of the children of our
employees follow in their parents’ footsteps
and are employed by Johnson Crane Hire
as crane operators. This is a rare occurrence
within any industry.”
Training for operational
safety
In order to provide industry with best practice
heavy lifting, Johnson Crane Hire operates its
own comprehensive in-house training facility
in Vanderbijlpark. Due to the complexity of
some of the machines operated by Johnson
Crane Hire, the company also undertakes
specific training through external authorities.
The Johnson Crane Hire training centre is
registered to certify operators and the certi-
fied trainers have considerable expertise in
identifying potential and capabilities within
operators and are also able to deal with a
broad range of behavioural issues.
Both theoretical and practical training
is undertaken, with safety forming an inte-
gral part of the TETA-accredited course-
work. Trainee operators spend six weeks at
the training centre undertaking a training
programme that has been developed by
Johnson Crane Hire and which exceeds the
basic legislated requirements. Re-certifi-
cation can be conducted over three days.
While competence and accountability are
key aspects of all training programmes, the
prevailing theme is safety.
HOLISTIC
LIFTING
PACKAGES
Ranked among the top crane
hire companies in the world,
Johnson Crane Hire has long
been distinguished as the
smartest in its field. Qualifying
this statement, Peter Yaman,
sales executive explains that
this accolade was earned
through the company’s
emphasis on providing more
than just a crane hire service.
Specific operational training is comple-
mented by exercises in travelling on roads
as well as assembling and stripping cranes.
This sets Johnson Crane Hire apart from the
majority of other training facilities since they
provide trainees with full accessibility to
cranes for these practical programmes.
Leveraging capabilities
Founded in 1976, Johnson Crane Hire
operates across the country with a fleet of
hydraulic and crawler cranes ranging from 8
to 750 tons, for both the short and long term,
on any type of project. The company works
with customers to design the best lifting solu-
tion, supplying professional operators and
full supervision, including all rigging equip-
ment, in a single source supplier approach.
Branches are strategically located around
South Africa in line with the company’s philos-
ophy of being on hand to meet all customers’
needs around the clock. The company’s head
office and the Heavy Lift Division are situated
in Germiston and these are complemented
by branches in Burgersfort, Cape Town,
Durban, Lephalale, Johannesburg, Middel-
burg, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Rusten-
burg, Saldanha, Trichardt, Vanderbijlpark
and Welkom, with a subsidiary operation
in Botswana. Recently established depots
include Kusile, Kathu and Mokopane.
African operations
The Johnson Crane Hire South African oper-
ation extends its services into Lesotho,
Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia,
Zimbabwe and other Southern African coun-
tries. The company has an acknowledged
track record in delivering appropriate solu-
tions for the power, petrochemical, refinery,
industrial, mining and civil infrastructure
industries, throughout Africa, on a number of
milestone projects.
Fleet
The company’s reputation for quality service
is attributable to a number of factors including
its dogmatic decision to purchasing only tried
and proven brand names like Tadano, Grove,
Liebherr and Terex, including the only 750 ton
crawler crane in Africa. This also ensures that
high levels of back-up support are provided.
It boasts the most modern fleet of truck
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