4 February 2014

Costain has received a Bronze award in the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), a voluntary certification scheme that aims to improve road safety by ensuring fleet operators work lawfully and to best practice.

Developed by a range of stakeholders including Transport for London, the Department for Transport, The Metropolitan Police, the Health and Safety Executive and the Road Haulage Association, FORS aims to improve the standard of fleet activity across the country. Receiving accreditation from FORS means the Company’s fleet operates at a standard that is above the legal requirement.

FORS auditors check the Company has a comprehensive understanding of all the requirements for a safe and legal operation. The audit checks for, among other items,  staff training, health and safety, resourcing, incident reporting, communication and daily vehicle inspections and maintenance. The audit was conducted at Immingham in North East Lincolnshire and supported by Paul Nicholson who manages the fleet of Large Goods Vehicle for Costain.

While the Bronze award relates only to Immingham, Costain intends to apply for national accreditation once two further audits can be completed at other sites in the UK, including an audit at the London Bridge Station project after the delivery of a truck mounted crane vehicle.

Costain has worked hard to improve vehicle and road safety standards across its sites and progression from FORS Associate to Bronze accreditation comes on the back of it launching its ‘Safety of Vulnerable Road Users’ initiative and Transport Logistics Procedure in July 2013.

The Company is an active member of the Transport for London sub-working group which is tasked with putting together a common code of practice to encourage the wider adoption of best practice in construction logistics and cycle safety across the industry.

Costain now specifies minimum requirements for driver competence and, in order to minimise the potential interaction between construction vehicles and vulnerable road users, the Company now selects the safest travel route to and from its work sites for both Costain’s vehicles and those of the supply chain.

“We take health and safety, including the driving and quality of our vehicles, very seriously. As a company, we continually strive to achieve the very highest standard in the procurement and management of our fleet. This latest accreditation with FORS enhances our Driving at Work and Management of Road Risk policies as well as our commitment to identifying areas where we can improve the performance of our fleet,” said Mark Ashenden, a Supply Chain Manager responsible for Plant, Transport and Service Provisions.

 

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