Introduciton

As you walk down almost any street, a construction site may catch your attention. Workers hurry around, huge machines are working on buildings or condominiums, or they may be tearing them down. And cranes are in the middle of it all.

Originally, cranes were used to raise things (not using manpower) and to move them from one spot to another (including man-powered machines)*. In other words, cranes are machines that can move the items they lift in horizontal directions. If you’ve ever tried one of those fishing games at a festival or tried to capture a prize with one of those arcade “crane machine” games, you know how tricky it is to handle things when they are suspended in midair. And the cranes we use at construction sites are thousands of times bigger and heavier than those toys. Wind and rain complicate matters even more. It may look easy to operate a crane from ground level, by it’s a demanding job that requires pinpoint control. Crane operators are trained professionals who can make the crane do exactly as they wish, and place that load exactly where it is needed. These articles focus on the close cooperation between Kobelco Cranes and on-site crane operators – maybe the very people you see working on construction sites in your neighborhood.

*According to the Safety Guidelines for Cranes, etc. Chapter I (Definition) Provision I, Edited by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Labour Standards Bureau, Safety and Health Department, Safety Section.
These guidelines are available only in Japanese. The translated name is not official.