Working on concrete: safe and well-equipped

Unburdening for the best collaboration

There are parties that claim to "completely unburden the contractor" in their field. BSE Betonwerken bv truly lives up to this claim. In the field of concrete, this family business from Ermelo has devoted itself to the entire breadth of the trade: from the pouring of concrete foundations, concrete walls and wide slab floors to the assembly of system floors and (prefab) concrete structures and all combinations thereof. BSE also has its own equipment rental company and has everything in place in the field of safety. 

BSE has now been under the management of Nicole and Erwin Ruiter for almost ten years, who have brought new impetus to the company. Small and also very large projects have since passed the revue and because of the enthusiastic and professional approach, the contractors know that BSE is above all a reliable partner. "But we remain in the role of subcontractor, only we are growing in that role," Nicole Ruiter points out. "We have grown in breadth in recent years and can do everything concrete-related. If a contractor wants to place the integral concrete work with one party, and that is increasingly the case, we quickly come into the picture because we are one of the few parties who can provide such a broad package. And we do so at a good price, but above all on time and with the right quality. Because of his frequent presence on construction sites, Erwin knows what is going on on the shop floor and therefore we can respond well to the needs that exist in construction practice." 

Equipment

BSE's total concrete package includes rebar laying, concrete delivery, laying foundations and floors, constructing concrete walls on the job and precast erection and assembly. "Setting up a steel structure is no problem for us either," Ruiter adds. "A few years back, we took over an equipment rental company, and that greatly expanded the possibilities and range of services. At once, with Ruiter Rental bv, we had a large hall with screw jacks, heavy load jacks and Paltowers. This is an independent company that rents out equipment, but it is also a nice complementary activity for our core business concrete. On our own works we can thus switch quickly and we will never be short of equipment. Large contractors have their own equipment service. But medium-sized and smaller contractors often do not have the space for that and it is also labor-intensive. The same goes for our formwork. Here we have a large stock and also a workshop to prefabricate formwork. This speeds up the construction process on site considerably. Here, too, we relieve our clients."

Working safely

In all operations, safe and healthy work is a key aspect for BSE. Employees of the company are working daily with heavy equipment and with heavy structures. "That's when accidents can happen, and we want to prevent that by any means necessary," Ruiter says. "That's why safety is our top priority. All our employees have a full personal VCA certificate. Also important are the monthly toolbox meetings in which we discuss incidents and near misses, if they occur at all. We do the latter using videos, because that communicates better. Furthermore, we hold our Last Minute Risk Analyses every day and for every project. With these, we put all safety aspects on the back burner. All our instructions, toolboxes and LMRAs are conducted in several languages, since we work with an international group. Our own people act as safety ambassadors to raise awareness as much as possible. We always do this in good consultation with the main contractor. BSE also has a Safety Culture Ladder SCL Light certificate. This is how we try to operate professionally and take the burden off our clients as much as possible."

Despite its recent growth, BSE is still a flexible, flat organization. Says Ruiter, "That means we are able to start a project quickly from the first contact and complete it in a very short time. Safely and with the best professionals."