Women in Construction: Hattie’s story at Osprey

Today, Hattie works as a yard crane operator at Osprey, operating some of the largest lifting equipment in the construction industry.

Before stepping into cranes, Hattie worked as a tree surgeon and had already spent many years in physically demanding, male-dominated trades.

Four years ago, Hattie typed “best paid jobs without qualifications” into Google. Among the results was crane operator, a career she had never previously considered but one that quickly changed her path.

“I’ve worked in male-dominated trades for about 14 years,” she explains. “But crane operating is the one where I feel most at home. I was concerned about leaving a physical labour job with a close-knit team to sit in a crane on my own all day,” she says.

The idea of becoming a crane operator was not immediately comfortable. However, the valuable opportunity to train changed everything. Hattie completed a ten-week training programme at Select Plant Hire’s reputable academy. Crucially, the course allowed her to earn while learning.

“It was a really well-thought-out ten weeks,” she says. “I was paid to learn with them, which I think more companies should adopt to improve recruitment. I would not have been able to pay for the qualification otherwise.”

Learning on the job

After qualifying, Hattie began working with a range of crawler cranes while self-employed. Some of them were older machines that brought their own challenges.

“I operated a range of dinosaur crawler cranes,” she laughs. “It really got the cogs turning one day when I sat down and everything was in Japanese!”

Now working in the yard at Osprey, she continues to build her knowledge alongside experienced fitters and crane operators passing through the site.

“One of the joys of working in the yard is the close connection with the fitters’ team,” she says. “I’ve learned more in one month with these gents than I did in three years on site.”

Favourite machines

“My favourite crane is my own, the Liebherr LR 1130, very closely followed by the Liebherr LTR 1100,” she says. “They are the same brand but completely different toys. One feels very down to earth and the other almost space age.”

At the moment, though, another crane is catching everyone’s attention.

“The Liebherr LTM 1750-9.1 is stealing the show in the yard.”

Strength inside and outside of work

When she is not loading wagons, Hattie can often be found working on a project she successfully pushed for herself, a new yard garden. The idea was to offset some of the environmental impact of the yard while also creating a space that supports wellbeing. Outside work, she channels her strength into competitive strongwoman training.

“I can farmer’s walk two 85-tonne shackles,” she says. “Overhead press though? There is a big jump between 55-tonne shackles and the 85-tonne ones, so there is lots of practice to go.”

Encouraging more women into cranes

For Hattie, cranes are a trade where women can thrive.

“I have found no gender barriers in my applications to work in cranes,” she says. “There is absolutely no reason women cannot do this job.”

Her biggest piece of advice is simple. Apply and see where the opportunity takes you.

For Hattie, a single Google search opened the door to a career she now loves and to operating some of the most impressive machinery in construction.