Asbestos and Chromium-6: safely and responsibly removed

"On behalf of housing associations, we perform asbestos removal on a weekly basis during alterations and repair maintenance," explains director Danielle Poolman. "But also for complex asbestos projects in for example power plants, monumental buildings and ships we do not turn our hand away. The hazardous substances remediation includes fine dust and chromium-6 remediation. On behalf of the Ministry of Defense, for example, we perform Chromium-6 and other CMR dust remediation in large workshops, where we remove old layers of paint from defense materials and/or clean up the work areas. Moreover, on the Royal Navy's premises in Den Helder, we remediate asbestos components in and around ships. We also have various contract agreements with universities, real estate companies and engineering firms, for which we perform renovation work in particular."

VKS stands for Professional Knowledge, Quality and Service and has its origins in specialty cleaning and disaster recovery services. "This brings with it a culture of direct approach, where the customer's request for help must be solved quickly and efficiently," Poolman says. "That approach and mentality is still in our DNA. We think proactively with clients in approach, lead times and costs. Especially in difficult projects. If necessary, we also look out-of-the box for possibilities to allow business processes to continue unhindered and/or to inconvenience residents as little as possible. It goes without saying that the safety of people and the environment is paramount in this regard."

All asbestos remediation is carried out according to the law. "Based on the inventory report, location/situation and client wishes and within the limits of the risk categories, we make a Plan of Action, which everyone can agree to," Poolman said. "Our approach to Chromium-6 is similar in many ways. Back in 1999, we started remediation work at De Kooy Maritime Air Base, and we have also carried out several projects for KLM. However, additional legislation and regulations in this area are lacking. The government merely states that Chromium-6 remediation must follow the Working Conditions Act, which states that employees, people and the environment must be protected. When Chromium-6 hit the headlines a few years ago, we joined forces with a number of parties to pick up the gauntlet and agreed clear frameworks based on our knowledge and experience. Together with a number of certifying bodies, we also had a process certificate/quality label developed, which we also received ourselves at the beginning of this year. Every VKS remediation project is completed with a clearance measurement, carried out by an independent laboratory, which assures the client of a Chromium-6-free delivery result."