Section 1 – Introduction

We were established in 2012 and are involved in the transport of cement by road to construction sites in and around London via our fleet of cement mixers from our Bow operating centre. My name is Danny Lyons and I am the founder and sole director of Dancon Services. This case study provides an update of our current activity, including the benefits obtained through our association with the FORS Standard, which includes our drivers’ awareness of the importance of road safety and minimising the environmental impact from the work they do on a daily basis.

Over the years we have built up a fleet of vehicles working for various franchises. Since our case study was originally published in 2018, Dancon Services Limited has expanded its franchise network and in addition to Tarmac and London Concrete is now also franchised to Euromix and Express Concrete, with a fleet of 21 vehicles. The company delivers concrete to busy construction sites across the capital and the southeast and we treat safety as an upmost priority in our daily operations. The help and guidance FORS provides its operators has contributed to maintaining and even improving the company’s high safety record. I am pictured in the image below carrying a COVID disinfectant Fogging Machine, and below I explain how FORS has assisted the business to meet the high standards expected within the industry.

I first heard about FORS through both London Concrete, one of our franchisor organisations, and other operators that recommended me to the scheme. It is now a mandatory requirement for our contracted work with all our respective franchises. We have been a member of the Scheme since 2013 and passed our Bronze audit at the first time of asking, finding the process to be smooth and efficient.

As stated above, we gained bronze accreditation in 2013 and stayed at that level until October 2017 when both Tarmac and London Concrete had advised all its franchised operators to apply for Silver accreditation. We realised there were further benefits to gaining Silver accreditation and it opened doors towards for access to further contracts. Now we are a Gold accredited operator we also benefit from the prestige gained, especially through proudly displaying the stickers on our vehicles.

Once we became a FORS accredited company we also quickly made use of all the guidance and training tools FORS has to offer, in particular the driver e-learning which has given our drivers a clearer understanding of vulnerable road user awareness and fuel-efficient driving which is beneficial to a transport operation. We have also seen over the years how FORS has continued to evolve, including an even greater focus on the impact of driving that an organisation like mine can potentially make on the environment.

Training and development features highly in our transport operations and new drivers are required to progress required training modules from the day they start with us, including early achievement of FORS e-learning and classroom-based training such as the Safe Urban driving workshops. These are seen as a useful way of raising awareness of vulnerable road users by allowing drivers to experience what it is like to be a cyclist in a busy urban area which I believe, has made them more observant and improved their skills as professional drivers. It is unfortunate that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has temporarily precluded this practical element of the module from being delivered, although the remote element has undoubtedly benefitted driver awareness. In addition, two members of the transport management team are full FORS Practitioners, one of them for in excess of five years.

“FORS e-learning training has continued to develop our drivers’ knowledge of both vulnerable road users and fuel-efficient driving and has contributed to maintaining the company’s high safety record and seen an improvement on mpg.”   Danny Lyons, Managing Director.

“Becoming a FORS Practitioner has helped me immensely in consolidating my knowledge and understanding in work related road safety and other considerations including the various mechanisms for reducing fuel emissions.”   Shaun Wright, Transport Manager.

Our mpg, incident rates and PCN rates have all improved as indicated on the table below which compares performance for 2019 to 2020;

We continue to monitor and review the health and fitness of our drivers using medical declaration forms which are issued on employment and reviewed every 6 months thereafter. In addition, we encourage our drivers to cycle to work to improve fitness and reduce parking congestion at the operating centre. In this connection we have conducted a staff survey, although the results have been somewhat impeded by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on driving to work plans.

Our drivers are largely recommended to us as are we to them however we have reviewed other options in recruiting new drivers into the industry via local schools and colleges and we have established our website to include FORS promotion in addition to further work and recruitment. Over recent years we have promoted our business in association with Tarmac at the Herts Show which has provided the opportunity to promote our industry to a younger audience, including the promotion of truck safety. Unfortunately, this has been restricted by COVID-19 considerations.

Although our operating centre is not in a noise sensitive area and is on an industrial area, some of the sites we deliver to can be so we carry out toolbox talks with drivers demonstrating the importance of minimizing noise as much as possible. Also, the new euro 6 vehicles we have recently ordered have noise reduced mixer drums which will contribute to keeping noise levels low in our operations.

We are always looking at how alternate fuel technology is moving to meet the needs of the industry, including electric Liebherr vehicles, although there is currently nothing suitable to meet our needs for the type of operations we conduct.

Dancon Services Limited is proud to be a Gold accredited member of a scheme that continues to evolve and develop, helping operators maintain the high standards that are expected within the industry.

In summary, we believe we are well placed to embrace the standards and opportunities that FORS has continued to present us with, and endeavour to maintain. Going forward we will be keeping our eyes and ears open to the opportunities presented by being a FORS Gold accredited member, especially as we emerge from the COVID related restrictions which have been prevalent over the past 12 months.

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