Tomago Celebrates with Hunter Valley Customers

Celebrating 40 years with the local community

CR has welcomed customers and the local business community to celebrate its 40th anniversary with an open day at their Tomago facility in Newcastle.

As part of the celebrations, CR announced a funding boost to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service with a three year $10,000 annual partnership with the vital emergency service.

For 40 years, CR has delivered world-class engineering, manufacturing, and digital solutions to the mining industry. In that time,CR has grown to more than 260 staff across 7 global locations working with the best mining operations across the world.

The Tomago facility has played an important part in the company’s growth and in the Hunter Valley and local Newcastle region, safely delivering a range of products and services including fabrication, repair, value-add, and process capabilities to the local resources, manufacturing and hydraulics industries.

Recognising our customers and local community

John Barbagallo, CR CEO, said the Tomago facility business open day was an opportunity to recognise and say thank-you to their clients, the Hunter Valley and Newcastle business community, local Government and their highly skilled local workforce for their ongoing support.

“For 40 years we have continued to grow globally, but our commitment to our staff and the local communities in which we operate has always remained strong,” said Mr. Barbagallo.

“We believe that our people make the difference in our business and we remain committed to providing a zero-harm work environment and ensuring all staff, contractors, visitors, and clients return safely home to their families at the end of each day,” said Mr. Barbagallo.

Commitment to safety and Zero Harm

Earlier this year, the Tomago facility reached seven years (over 2,500 days) without a Lost Time Injury (LTI), a remarkable achievement for a site that undertakes the type of heavy industrial work typically done at Tomago.

The Tomago facility has also implemented several new safety initiatives, including:

  • Inventing a new rotator design for hard face parts welding that eliminates safety risks related to movement of extremely heavy parts for welding while also eliminating the need for specific jigs to ensure the welder has the right ergonomic setup.
  • Design and fabrication of a new gas bottle access ramp/platform to reduce manual handling risks when taking gas bottles out of their storage cages.
  • Installation of a new warehouse wall crane which has decreased forklift/pedestrian interaction.
  • Implementation of the CR TAKE 2 initiative which encourages employees to stop and think about every task they are conducting to keep themselves safe.

This commitment to safety also reaches to the local communities in which CR operates. Over the years, CR has partnered with several major mining operators to raise important funds and awareness for local charities including the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.

“Today, we’re incredibly proud to continue our tradition of supporting regional initiatives with this announcement of a three year $10,000 annual corporate partnership with the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, a charity to which many of our staff here in Tomago generously donate through their payroll deductions,” said Mr. Barbagallo.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service

Attending the Tomago facility open day and accepting the cheque on behalf of the charity was Richard Jones, CEO Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.

“The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service is there for the community, and we appreciate and thank CR for their commitment to supporting our free of charge service,” said Mr. Jones.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service operates 24-7 and aims to deliver the highest standard of aeromedical and rescue services to those in need for free. Each year almost 2,000 lifesaving missions are conducted from three bases in Belmont, Tamworth, and Lismore for more than 1.5 million people living and working across Northern New South Wales.

“We’re proud to be able to share this important milestone with our customers, suppliers, and our incredible staff,” said Mr. Barbagallo.

“We thank them for their support, and we look forward to together, leading global mining productivity technology standards into the future.”

CQMS Razer Tomago staff join with customers to present a cheque to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service
Tomago staff join with customers to present a check to the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service