One in thirty recovery companies not certified

Thursday 24 November 2011
Roadside inspections have revealed that more than one in thirty IM recovery companies do not have the required certificates. It was also determined that one in forty recovery companies deploy a vehicle for a recovery order on the trunk road network that does not comply with the requirements imposed.

Over the past few months, a total of 201 inspections were carried out among all contract partners of Stichting Incident Management Nederland. Recovery companies were instructed to drive to an incident. At the accident location, they were met by an employee of Vianorm, the company responsible for carrying out the inspections on behalf of Stichting Incident Management Nederland.

Vianorm identified seven drivers who had completed no recovery training. In five inspections, it was determined that the recovery vehicle used failed to comply with the requirements imposed for motorway recovery services. In four cases, the inspection certificate for the vehicles in question had (just) expired. At the twelve companies in question additional inspections will be carried out over the next few months. If serious non-conformities are once again identified, Stichting Incident Management Nederland may decide to terminate the relationship with the responsible company.

During the inspections, minor misdemeanours were also identified. Six recovery drivers appeared at the scene of the incident without the specified safety clothing. On seven vehicles, the bodywork sticker showing that the vehicle complies with Stichting Incident Management Nederland quality requirements was missing. All of these vehicles were subsequently able to present valid inspection papers.

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