Resource Hub Maker of maintenance platforms, fall-protection stands, and hangar equipment serves commercial and military helicopter operators. Anyone who has strolled the halls of HAI HELI-EXPO® (which was rebranded as VERTICON in March shortly after HAI HELI EXPO 2024) over the past several years would have been hard-pressed to miss the eye-catching booth display of S.A.F.E. Structure Designs. The company’s large, yellow, custom-designed maintenance platforms, fall-protection stands, and hangar equipment often turn heads. Johnny Buscema, former president and CEO of All Metal MS, formed Las Vegas, Nevada–based S.A.F.E. Structure Designs in 2016. Under Buscema’s guidance, the company has grown as a design, engineering, and manufacturing firm focused on safety products. (The S.A.F.E. acronym stands for “safety-first access fall-protection equipment.”) What started as access platforms and fall protection for aviation operators soon grew into support for heavy equipment and then expanded into industrial, rail, marine, and several other industries. Designed to Protect The company’s designs not only seek to provide a safe working environment free from hazards; they also prioritize ergonomic configurations engineered to protect operators from strain and injuries while helping them increase their efficiency. S.A.F.E. blends ergonomic form, fit, and function into each stand, platform, and piece of custom equipment. The company designs the products for their specific use—such as an access platform for a specific aircraft make and model—and for the location, such as an individual hangar space. S.A.F.E. is a US General Services Administration (GSA) contract holder. According to GSA studies, the company’s ergonomic designs have helped increase the efficiency of US military personnel by 50% and safety by 75%. Custom Solutions for Helicopter Operators S.A.F.E. operates seven manufacturing facilities across the United States, each with its own unique capabilities. The company will design a custom solution for free and charge operators only after a final selection is made. Other key S.A.F.E. products include custom-built emergency egress and exit, fall-protection, and emergency fire equipment; maintenance platforms; cranes; exit stairways and mezzanines; hazardous-material loading ramps; and environmental control units. S.A.F.E. has supported numerous projects for major operators, including providing a heavy-maintenance storage system for the US Geological Survey station in Clearwater, Florida, that gave maintenance technicians additional room to work in a limited space. The company installed a combined parts rack, cowling rack, driveshaft rack, and blade rack. S.A.F.E. also designed a custom maintenance stand for the first Leonardo AW169 to operate in the United States, for NextEra Energy.
