Vereniging voor Explosieven Opsporing
Centrale belangenbehartiger voor opsporen Conventionele Explosieven!
Under the Netherlands Working Conditions Decree, the remediation of UXO from WWI and WWII that are located in the bottom of surface waters or in the ground may only be undertaken by appropriately certified firms.
The statutory basis and the scope of this compulsory certification are explained below.
Article 4.10 of the Netherlands Working Conditions Decree (Arbobesluit) stipulates that firms undertaking work relating to remediation of UXO must hold a "process certificate for remediation of UXO issued by Our Minister or a notified body". The compulsory certification requirement came into force in 2007.
As the statutory basis for the certification of UXO clearing firms, Article 4.17f of the Working Conditions Regulations (Arboregeling) refers to the system certificate under the activity-specific certification scheme for the remediation of UXO (WSCS-OCE), as incorporated in Annex XII of the Working Conditions regulations.
The certification of UXO clearing firms is undertaken by notified bodies appointed by the Minister for Social Affairs and Employment. Currently, the only such appointed body is TÜV Nederland
The Working Conditions legislation is applicable to every working person in the Netherlands (Article 1 of the Working Conditions Act (Arbowet), including work undertaken by foreign firms. On the basis of Article 2 of the Netherlands Working Conditions Act this "Act and the provisions based on this Act" are also applicable to work undertaken within the Exclusive Economic Aera EEA).
Click here for further detailed information about the WSCS-OCE.
Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2006, number 142: amendment to the Working Condition Decree relating to detecting Conventional Explosives.
Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2006, number 715: entry into force of OCE compulsory certification.
