Section 1 – Introduction
Sfitlic Ltd is based in London and is a subcontractor transports concrete as instructed by and on behalf of Capital Concrete. Established in April 2018 the company has seen significant improvements in the concrete delivered by their fleet and a reduction in carbon emissions since implementing the FORS practices into the company’s processes. Ionel Petrica Sfitlic, director of Sfitlic Ltd explains how FORS has been beneficial to their company.
Section 2 – How did you hear about FORS, what prompted the company to join and how long have you been a member?
We initially came across FORS when Capital Concrete (Brett at the time) introduced it as a safety improvement feature in and around London. It wasn’t compulsory at the time but we discovered that FORS offers a wide range of driving e-Learning modules as well as practical modules. What appealed to us most were the e-Learning modules due to their easy access for our drivers and the amount of information they provide. We have become Bronze accredited shortly after incorporating the company and subsequently we have achieved Silver.
Section 3 – What was your experience of the initial FORS Bronze audit?
Even though the initial Bronze audit wasn’t an easy ride, it has shown us what needed to be improved at the time and provided us with valuable information to use in running the business while improving our fuel consumption and road safety.
Section 4 – What was your main reason(s) for you progressing (either from Bronze to Silver and then Silver to Gold or straight from Bronze to Gold)?
FORS Silver was initially introduced as non-compulsory by Capital Concrete. When 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 we decided it was the wright moment to move forward with the Silver initially in November 2020 and now with Gold.
We take compliance and safety very seriously. FORS did help us by providing training and tools that improved the policies and procedures with our Bronze Accreditation.
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 as well.
‘FORS has helped us achieve compliance and safety.’ Ionel Petrica Sfitlic Director/ Driver
‘We have improved our MPG by 6.27% since our baseline year’ – Ionel Petrica Sfitlic Director/ Driver
Section 6 – What improvements have you made?
|
|
Km per Litres |
Incidents or Parking fines and Charges |
Number of vehicles |
| Year Feb 19 – Jan 20 | 0.912 | 0 | 2 |
| Year Feb 20 – Jan 21 | 0.855 | 0 | 2 |
| Percentage improvement | 6.27% | 0% Improvement | 0% Improvement |
Both me and my other driver complete a comprehensive Medical Declaration 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.
We have adopted a recruitment policy to try and help us recruit young drivers into the Transport industry through posting a various groups and forums.
We try and eliminate engine idling throughout the day in order to improve our vehicle consumption and minimize our carbon footprint. Vehicle cleaning is usually performed with the engine off whenever possible
Noise assessment – We carry our own in-house noise assessment using FORS recommended applications, of which the results reviewed and acted on when necessary. Corded/banded ear plugs, ear defenders and disposable ear plugs all for use up to 100db are available for all staff to use. Our loading times are between 07:00-17:30 reducing the impact to areas around our site
We have looked at electric vehicles and because of the weights we carry and the fact that our Lorries have specialist equipment fitted no manufacture have produced an alternative fuelled vehicle that can carry the weight we do and go over the same terrain we do.
Section 7 – What are your plans for the future?
We will continue using what FORS has taught us to improve our MPG and reduce any wasted idling we might have. We have subscribed to various newsletters and FORS updates in order to keep up to date with the improvements in the industry.
Section 8 – What evidence do you have of positively promoting FORS at requirement G7?
We promote FORS through the stickers on our trucks as seen in the picture attached.
In every email we send out we have the unique FORS ID Logo and a link to our Website (https://sfitlic-ltd.yolasite.com) which we use to promote FORS.
Section 9 –What FORS Gold accredition means for your organisation/to you?
Maintaining FORS Gold Accreditation shows how dedicated we are as a company to improving road safety and the safety of all vulnerable road users in London as well as nationally. We will continuously use what FORS has taught us to help reduce our carbon footprint and make the roads so safer for everyone that uses them. We have also managed to make a significant saving by reducing our fuel usage and improving our MPG
*Please note: All published FORS Gold case studies have been submitted by the accredited company named above and transcribed verbatim