IN FOCUS / SINGAPORE CRANE INDUSTRY
UAA BRIDGES GAP WITH SINGAPORE Underwriting Agencies Australia (UAA) invited the chairman of the Singapore Cranes Association (SCA), Jimmy Chua and his colleague, Akbar Kader, to attend the CICA Conference and Exhibition. It was a fact-finding trip providing both with a better understanding of how the crane sector works in Australia. THE TRIP WAS INSTIGATED BY KEY personnel from Underwriting Agencies of Singapore (UAS), a business unit of UAA, which specialises in mobile plant and machinery insurance. Marc Crossman, regional manager agencies, Asia, and Vernice Pang, business development manager, have been developing relationships with the crane industry in Singapore, and thought Jimmy Chua and Akbar Kader would benefit with insights into the Australian sector. The initiative was expressively supported by UAA CEO, Michael “Murf” Murphy, and chief services officer, George Grasso and the management team. According to Grasso, the crane industry works differently in Singapore.
“We thought they would benefit from learning a bit more about how the Australian crane industry works. Akbar Kader is a director of Nan Guan Constructions and has been involved with the crane industry for a number of years. In Singapore, regular crane inspections are compulsory and there is also a requirement for a crane to be inspected before it moves onto a major project or construction site, but the inspections are always conducted by professional engineers,” he said. Chua and Kader were able to meet with CICA CEO, Brandon Hitch, who presented the CraneSafe and CrewSafe programs and explained how they work. “They were impressed, especially
with the CraneSafe program and the point that all inspections are conducted by certified crane assessors. They are studying some of the practices of CraneSafe that may be beneficial in enhancing safety related issues. The CrewSafe program, or an equivalent, is also a program that is of interest to them,” said Grasso. According to Grasso, repairing cranes in Singapore is not a straightforward process. If there is an incident, the Ministry of Manpower, which is similar in its role to WorkCover, will get heavily involved. It can take control of the construction site and dictate how the machine needs to be recovered and how it needs to be repaired. Repairs are mainly conducted by the manufacturer
Vernice Pang, Underwriting Agencies of Singapore (UAS) Michael “Murf” Murphy UAA, Akbar Kader, Nan Guan Constructions, Jimmy Chua, chairman of the Singapore Cranes Association (SCA), George Grasso, UAA and Marc Crossman, UAS regional manager.
www.cranesandlifting.com.au
January 2020 CAL / 29
