D N Davies – Gold Case Study

D N Davies is a small company which has been in business for over 30 years delivering asphalt and aggregate materials.  We have been a Contract Haulier for Tarmac since 1996, previously working as an independent haulier for McAlpine Quarry Products and Wimpy.  We are based in the South Wales area. Judith Davies, Transport Manager, explains how FORS has helped improved performance, reduce fuel usage and improve road safety.

We were first made aware of FORS through our Tarmac Account Manager, who encouraged us to join the scheme. Upon investigation it was evident that the FORS standard and toolkits would help us follow best practice, improve safety and performance.

D N Davies achieved its first FORS Bronze audit first time round in 2015 and Silver in 2018. Achieving the first Bronze audit helped us to identify and implement improvements and encourage us onto achieving Silver and then Gold accreditation.

Once we were Bronze, we made the most of the benefits on offer, in particular the FORS training courses available. All of our employees and Transport Manager have attended the Safe Urban Driver training and are encouraged to work through the e-learning available.  The Transport Manager has attended the FORS Practitioner courses.  Being FORS Accredited also emphasised the need to ensure that our policies and procedures were regular review and updated.

“Being FORS accredited shows that we follow good practice and strive to act in a professional manner.” – Nigel Davies, Partner.

The main benefit of being FORS accredited has been to secure our contract with Tarmac, and the ability to access the wide range of e-learning modules as well as the many exclusive benefits available to FORS accredited organisations. This has enabled us to ensure that all vehicles are fitted with the relevant safety equipment and the additional training undertaken by our drivers has raised their awareness of the needs of other vulnerable road users.

“The FORS Road Risk Champion training reaffirmed my knowledge of risk management.” – Judith Davies, Transport Manager.

Following our Bronze accreditation, we decided to progress to Silver as it was evident that we were already carrying out and had everything in place to gain Silver Accreditation. Progressing to Silver and then onto Gold will show that we are serious about professionalism and safety within the industry.

• All drivers are provided with the list of DVLA notifiable medical conditions and are required to complete a health declaration prior to employment to confirm their fitness to driver the Company’s vehicles. Drivers are then required to complete a health declaration on a yearly basis. Eyesight checks are carried out yearly to ensure that the drivers’ eyesight meets the standard for driving.
• At present we do not have any driver vacancies, however we have recently developed a recruitment policy which outlines our commitment to employing both qualified and unqualified drivers who we will train into the role of HGV driver.
• We are aware that the work we carry out can result in noise pollution, therefore a noise risk assessment has been carried out in areas our employees are exposed to. All employees have been provided with information on how to protect their hearing. Within our Employees Handbook we have a policy on Noise Reduction and Engine Idling.
• As a Contract Haulier for Tarmac we do not transport our own goods / materials and therefore are not in a position to use any other mode of transport for the delivery of goods. Our vehicles have to conform to the specification laid down within our contract with Tarmac CRH. We currently are running three Euro 6 and one Euro 5 vehicles and are expecting delivery of a MAN Euro 6 truck early in 2019 which will replace the only remaining Euro 5 vehicle.

Going ahead we intend to keep up to date with any changes made within the transport industry and continue to make fleet improvements by upgrading all our vehicles to Euro 6.  To further develop our employees, we will encourage them to undertake training and FORS e-learning appropriate to their role.

Becoming FORS Gold accredited will demonstrate that we are committed to continually improving our business, employing good practice and complying with the requirements laid out by the FORS Standard.