Section 1 – Introduction
Kayleigh Plant Hire is a family-run plant hire company based in north London operating in London and the Southeast and providing comprehensive operated and non-operated plant hire options designed to give a complete service from a single point of contact. Jacqueline O’Donovan, our operations director, discussed how FORS has helped us drive the business forward whilst focussing on improved driver professionalism and safety, reduce the
company’s emissions whilst promoting the business through good networking opportunities.
Section 2 – How did you hear about FORS, what prompted the company to join and how long have you been a member?
We have been onboard with FORS from a very early stage when heard about the standard back in 2011. We felt that it would be a great way to improve our operations whilst learning and introducing new working practices. After our initial FORS assessment, we started the journey towards being a bronze accredited company. We could see the benefits from the very start and the support that was and still is available to help us to achieve best practice in our day to day operations.’
Section 3 – What was your experience of the initial FORS Bronze audit?
After the Bronze audit, we worked to prepare all our processes for implementation to be able to progress. The performance management tool allowed us to assess various parts of our operation, all within the one FORS database. It helped us to analyse and scale output information against windows of time and how we compare to other industry averages.
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)?
As we proceeded, we could see that progressing to Silver and Gold was something that we wanted to continue with as the benefits were very evident. We attended all the FORS workshops learning new and innovative ideas which we applied to our fleet and that has gone on to help us improve safety, efficiency and the environment and ultimately awareness within our industry. As part of our progression, our entire fleet are fitted with nearside blind spot side sensors, reversing cameras, nearside CCTV cameras, forward facing CCTV cameras, “Beware Vehicle Turning Left” and/or “Beware Vehicle Turning Right” alarms, side impact bars, fresnel lenses. The vehicles also carry warning triangles, fire extinguishers and display various warning stickers to advise vulnerable road users. Collaborations and networking has been another major advantage and we are always learning something new. Internal communication has been a major emphasis and we share the FORS information out to staff through training, company newsletter, memos, poster campaigns and toolbox talks.
Section 5 – Explain how you have made use of the benefits FORS provides?
One of the supports that has benefitted us the most has been the ability to up-skill our drivers. It has become an integral part of our business that training and education is a huge priority. Our team have engaged well with the courses and it helps them feel valued and invested in as professionals with recognition for the complex job that they do. Our drivers are more aware of their responsibilities as professional drivers and take pride in their work both on the road and on-site. As a company, we continue to encourage our drivers to aim higher
and gain their qualifications.
‘The driver training has not only engaged our team more but has been a huge benefit to the business’ says Jacqueline O’Donovan, Operations Director. “Our advancement from silver to gold and maintaining that level over the hears highlights the amount of investment in our staff and operations and shows our customers how seriously we take the safety of vulnerable road users and providing our drivers with every available aid to minimise the blind spot, making every journey a safer one. Building relationships is something FORS has really facilitated for us, meeting and working with others from similar and complimentary industries has assisted with progression from Bronze to Silver then to Gold.”
Section 6 – What improvements have you made?
- Performance data – by adopting and implementing FORS Standards we have increased our MPG achieved by 5% and reduced our C02 by 14%. Similarly we have seen reductions in our NOX and PM emissions. This has brought both environmental improvements as well as better economical performance. We continue to prioritise driver health and fitness and our reviews has helped us keep focussed on the health and wellbeing of our drivers and complements our own in-house measures.
Noise assessments are carried out on an ongoing basis in order to identify any potential areas where we can reduce any noise generated by our operations. One of the measures we have implemented is to ensure that our reversing alarms are of a ‘white noise’ type meaning that the noise generated is only heard in the immediate vicinity.- Recruitment of drivers continues to be a priority during the driver shortage and having our FORS Gold accreditation is a clear sign that we prioritise the safety and training of our staff and helps us engage with new applicants.
Going forward, Kayleigh Plant will continue to invest in electric vans and plan to expand our current infrastructure and charging points at our depot and have had positive
feedback from drivers and clients. We are exploring alternative powered plant and researching electric and gas-powered road sweepers.
We are very happy to promote our association with FORS and are proud to have maintained the Gold status since 2014. We feel the Standard has set us apart from our competitors and is a clear indication of our dedication to safety and the environment. Our team are engaged in our ongoing commitment to maintain excellent
standards and to be seen as an industry leader.
FORS and specifically FORS Gold has help contribute to us becoming an employer of choice with a reputation for recognising our drivers as professionals. This has been essential at a time when there has been a serious driver shortage Our ongoing commitment will be to promote the road safety and best practice message whilst raising awareness of the importance of collaboration with other road users whilst continuing to maintain our excellent reputation within the industry as a safe and efficient operator.
Follow us on social media:
Twitter @KayleighPlantH
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayleighPlantHire
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/kayleigh-plant-hire-limited
Instagram @kayleighplanthire