McGee is an Employee owned business which was originally founded in 1959 by Tom McGee.

McGee is based in Hatfields, London with its Transport yard based in Colnbrook. Ashish Gami, Transport manager explains how McGee has grown to become a respected name in the construction market specialising in decontamination, asbestos removal, demolition, civil engineering, construction, and recycling services, either as standalone disciplines or as an integrated solution. Our work depends on a diverse range of vehicles that allows us to raise the bar in delivering safe, reliable and efficient construction logistics. We operate one of the UK’s largest and most diverse ranges of plant and transport vehicles. We have achieved significant improvements through FORS, including reductions in fuel use / reduced CO2 emissions, lowered NOx and Particulate Matter emissions, improved its road safety record, decreased transport related fines and charges. FORS has also provided us with training and tools that improved our policies and procedures.

We came across FORS when tendering for work across London. When we looked at the requirements and benefits of joining the scheme we saw that they fitted in perfectly with our ethos of improving safety whilst complementing our drive to improve fuel efficiency and reduce our environmental impact. Being with FOR’s has helped us win lucrative contract’s such as HS2 where vehicle safety is off utmost importance.

We initially passed our bronze audit back in 2014 and since then we have progressed to silver and gold, We successfully pass our bronze audit last year, passing the first time with one minor. This gives us confidence that our processes and procedures are implemented. Our Silver renewal was passed successfully this year too.

A main reason for going Gold was too show a exemplary standard to the industry, our work requires us to be Silver but we have gone that extra mile to show we can maintain this and better ourselves.

The performance management toolkit really helped us set our targets for reducing our carbon footprint and improving our MPG. FORS has helped us improve our filing systems and procedures.

FORS has helped us achieve compliance and safety’ – Ash Gami – Transport Manager

‘We have increased our MPG by 20% since our baseline year’ – Ash Gami – Transport Manager .

Section 6 – What improvements have you made?

Since joining FOR’s. we have managed to reduce our Parking fines & Charges and reduce our accidents/incidents. We achieved this by making sure we always selected the best route possible to all our sites and we plan ahead before leaving the yard. Also, we now have a fully compliant low emission fleet with heavy safety features.

• We get all my drivers to complete a comprehensive Medical Declaration on an annually basis even though the FORS Standard states once every 5 years. It’s also mentioned in the drivers handbook that if they at any point in time start suffering from a medical condition they need to notify the company ASAP as well as if they need to start taking medication prescribed by their GP or over the counter drugs. We will then investigate it to see if it’s still safe for the driver to be driving for the company and we may even ask the driver to get a letter from his doctor informing the company if he is still able to drive for the company. We will then start doing more driver assessments on the driver to make sure he isn’t a risk to the company or anyone on the road
• The industry we work in, most of the recruitment is done through word of mouth or through friends and family of drivers. All the drivers we recruit are qualified and trained drivers, regardless of experience, these drivers all go out with a senior driver in their first week
• All our HGV vehicles are fitting with engine cut off which stops drivers from excessive idling and in turn helps with noise reduction. A majority of our work is carried out by main dealers at their premises. There are a few houses in the vicinity of the yard, our drivers do not start their vehicles until after 6.30am as per planning regulations. We have not had any complaints about noise. All our vehicles are fitted with White Noise Reversing alarms. All our newer lorries and anti-idling cut off so our engines cut off after a period if left idling.

We have carried out a review of our fleet operations. At present there isn’t a suitable alternative to the diesel engine for the nature of the work we do. Therefore all we can do now is run our fleet as efficiently as possible.

We have recently started to look at low entry cabs to further highlight McGee’s plan to be a safe fleet and reduce Road Risk. We have heavily invested in these and are looking at delivery of 10 of these in March 2021. These vehicles will be DVS 5 star rated meaning they will be safest vehicles in our class

We actively promote FOR’s throughout our supply chain, informing suppliers and customers that we are FOR’s Gold as the start of the year. We encourage all those who want to work for us to have a minimum of FOR’s Silver and aim for Gold. Our nature of work means we have to actively promote FOR’s and we rely of our accreditation to win work

Having FORS gold to us means that we are able to show that we are always looking to improve our systems and improve our standards. By being Gold and encouraging others we can lead by example.

*Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim