KTV Industri
Spotless reputation
The industrial cleaning of oil rigs and associated offshore equipment is an extremely demanding and hazardous task, which involves the use of innovative equipment and specialised cleaning practices.
KTV Industri, one of Norway’s leading industrial cleaning companies, prides itself on providing its customers with the highest quality solutions, whilst ensuring the continued safety of its employees. The business, which has more than a decade of cleaning experience, provides a total package of industrial cleaning services to customers across Norway.
Kennet Nilsen, managing director at KTV, elaborates further on the strong emphasis on quality within the business: “Through the 16 years that we have existed we have always maintained the highest focus on quality, and there is little doubt that this is the key contributor to our success. We pride ourselves on delivering the best possible service, on time, every time, and this is the basis on which we have been expanding the business. This type of cleaning is a dirty, hazardous job, where a rapid reaction is often necessary. For example, if needed we can assemble a team of 40 or more personnel for a specific job at one days notice – there are very few companies who can boast such a quick response. Furthermore, in 16 years there is not one time that we have been late, or delivered less than the best that we can.”
As Kennet explains, such dedication has seen the company greatly expand its scope of operations in recent years: “The business originally started in 1992, cleaning surfaces on and in buildings and completing paint stripping operations, before moving into industrial cleaning. Today our industrial cleaning service truly means a total package suited for each customer’s needs. For example, this can include the provision of all the cleaning on a platform when it is in for refit and repair, such as the cleaning of the tanks, the actual platform, and all of the on board equipment.
“In addition, we have developed our own safety and communications equipment, together with our own chemicals and in-house training programmes,” he says. “We have developed many of these new chemicals in close cooperation with a chemical factory. This has enabled us to produce chemicals that are more efficient, and more environmentally friendly, than anything that was previously available in the industry.”
The company currently serves a number of the major operators in the local oil and gas sector, as Kennet elaborates: “We provide our services to all of the big oil bases here in Norway, with our biggest customer being Coast Centre Base (CCB), which is close to where our office and store site is based. In addition to these standard contracts we also complete a number of specialist assignments, such as ship cleaning, along the Norwegian coast.
“The type of service that we offer differs with each specific customer, but the dedication to a fast efficient service remains the same,” he continues. “In each job we work to an hourly price rate, rather than having set costs for an operation. However, we always strive to complete the job as quickly as possible for the client as we understand the problems that can arise from long amounts of downtime. To aid this efficient process we spend a considerable sum of money developing equipment that will make the job faster and simpler for all those involved.”
The nature of the cleaning operations that KTV carries out means that safety is the paramount concern: “It is absolutely vital that we pay attention to the safety of our personnel, particularly when cleaning storage tanks,” says Kennet. “The current rules in Norway state that every tank must be measured to check for dangerous chemicals, and to see if there is enough oxygen to breathe before anyone enters. In the large majority of tanks we clean there is little danger of poisonous gas and a safe level of oxygen, which means that according to the rules they are safe to work in.
“However, our dedication to the safety of our personnel means that in every tank that we operate in we use breathing equipment,” he continues. “We believe that such oxygen systems should be used in any room or space that is enclosed, and that the rules should be tightened to make it standard practice in all cleaning operations as you never truly know the risk until cleaning begins. In addition to this, we have developed a range of communication equipment to enable the person in the tank to clearly communicate with those outside. This is vitally important, as it allows us to monitor the safety of our employees at all times during an operation, and to keep control of the overall situation.”
The current buoyancy of the market, and the prospects for further exploration for some years, means that Kennet is confident that KTV’s services will remain in high demand: “As long as we continue to provide the best possible service whilst developing new equipment and improved methods, I am positive that we will continue to have good business levels in oil and gas industrial cleaning. We aim to continue to consolidate the business, and to eventually look to establish a new base of operations further north in Norway to follow the movement of the industry. Most importantly for us, there are a lot of rigs operating in the Norwegian sector at present, and as long as the owners continue to want the best, most efficient service possible, then I am positive we will be in business for many years to come,” he concludes.
Industry: Industrial cleaning