Section 1 – Introduction

We are a specialist sweeper company based in the Midlands.  We supply high pressure rear suction sweepers, conventional sweepers, jetters and water tankers to the road, rail, aviation and construction industries across the country 24-7. The company was established in 2018 by Shaun Kelly. Shaun explains how Beam Sweepers UK was formed.  “Back in 2003, I formed Kelly Plant Hire Ltd. We were predominantly plant-based, supplying operated excavators to the civil engineering sector. From 2015 onwards we began purchasing road sweepers.  By early 2018, the demand for road sweepers was so great that it made sense to form a sister company (Beam Sweepers UK Ltd) to solely manage the demand for road sweepers”.

Section 2 – How did you hear about FORS, what prompted the company to join and how long have you been a member?

Whilst tendering for Highways Agency contracts, it became apparent that FORS was a key requirement.  Several customers particularly HS2 and Highways England, wanted us to work with them and the quality standard they demanded was for FORS accreditation to be held.  In August 2019 we joined FORS and secured Bronze status.

Section 3 – What was your experience of the initial FORS Bronze audit?

From a cold start, entering The FORS accreditation process was intensive, however, the efforts made to meet and raise our standards have been far outweighed by the benefits and economies of scale achieved. We passed the Bronze audit at the first attempt and new revenue streams came to us in a matter of weeks. Becoming an active member of FORS catalysed noteworthy change in the way we work.

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)?

Our FORS journey has not simply been about reaching another standard. Awakening ourselves to the many aspects of best practice available within FORS has made a remarkable difference to the way we work.  Shaun Kelly explains, “I see FORS as the linchpin to us realising our long term vision.  The embedding of FORS across our business and now realisation of FORS Gold is one key reason why we are still not only here, but growing”.  In February 2020, we raised our bar higher and achieved FORS Silver.

FORS Silver catalysed a further increase in sales across different sectors that we previously would not have been able to access and a lowering of costs.

We have strived to implement many of the best practices that the FORS community has suggested. We will continue to do so

simply because we know now that the return on investment for spending time embedding changes is high.

We have seen a lowering of fuel consumptions, carbon footprint and operational efficiencies in administration and compliance. Intangible benefits that are harder to quantify but significant are the streamlining of all driver training, fleet management, and compliance.

In short, the introduction of FORS has brought about a positive cultural change. This can be evidenced by the speed with which new changes are accepted and adopted by drivers; the incidents of collisions number declining and staff turnover stabilising and the adoption rate on training increasing.

Shaun Kelly – Managing Director adds, “Being plugged into FORS mentally on a daily basis has in short led to a paradigm shift in how we work. It has accelerated the way we think about investing in people, processes and technology”.

Phil O’Loughlan – Contract Manager said, “We have found FORS to be both informative and instructional in the development of the business and standards within the business and we see it as an essential tool for us moving forwards with the business”.

Section 6 – What improvements have you made?

Beam Sweepers UK signed up to FORS in Aug 2019 the evidence is clear to see. We have had an increase in our fleet size and still achieved 42% reduction in incidents.

	MPG	Incidents per 100,000 Kms	CO2	NOx	PM10	Number of PCNs	Proportion of fleet that uses alternative fuels
Year 2019	5.71	0.28	257.67	287.4	9.91	0	0%
Year Y	6.34	0.16	207.54	231.49	7.98	0	0%
Percentage improvement	11%	42.86%	11%	11%	11%	0%	0%

Driver health and fitness review – Medical declarations are completed annually for all drivers.  The Driver’s handbook includes the requirement to disclose any over-the-counter medicines also used.

Recruitment of drivers – We recruit both experienced drivers as well as those newly qualified.  The induction and training regime has FORS embedded within it and ensures all drivers become familiar with the principles of FORS from day one.  All drivers receive FORS e-learning as well as bespoke training specific to the vehicle they are driving. Each driver is paired with an experienced driver for initial face-to-face training and then on-going remote support which lasts as long as the driver needs it.

Noise assessment – Beam Sweepers UK are always looking at innovation our recent investment in New FAUN sweepers addressed the noise issue with up to 70% reduction in the sound power level (LWA) The suction fan is powered via a purpose designed hydraulic system, specifically designed for sweeping machines. An independent gearbox power take off (i.e. camshaft or flywheel drive) on the chassis engine, powers a hydraulic double pump via a propeller shaft. The hydraulic pump set is driving a constant hydraulic motor on the suction fan drive, without the need for step up gearbox or z axle drive unit, reducing noise by eliminating the secondary donkey engine and also increasing efficiency.

The air recirculation system recirculates 30% to 70% of the suction fan exhausted air and reuses it through a flexible hose in the blowing nozzle. The rest of the exhausted air will be slowed down in the air stilling chamber and sinks under the vehicle out to the atmosphere.

There are various advantages of the Air Recirculation System, these include, very low dust emissions as only a small part of the dusty exhausted air goes back to the atmosphere, low noise emissions as only a small part of the air will be released to the atmosphere at a reduced speed (exhaust air is guided in an air stilling chamber, no polluted exhausted air at the rear or top of the vehicle during the operation, no blowing of leaves from passing trees.

Modal shift and alternative vehicles – Beam Sweeper approached FUAN and developed sweepers with hydrostatic drive for the sweeper.  This enables the removal of the secondary Donkey engine.  Benefits included carrying additional water in newly designed tanks reducing off site time and trips to water location also a great reduction in carbon emissions and Gas oil usage.

There has also been a reduction in fuel consumption with the driver foot pedal monitoring system.  This allows drivers bad habits to be recognised and rectified.  Such monitoring is used in toolbox talks to implement the improvements to all.

Section 7 – What are your plans for the future?

Beam Sweepers UK are continuing to expand our fleet of new sweeper and rear suction Beam Sweeper with further units due in 2021.  We are also introducing on site sweeper waste processing units substantially reducing off site tipping journeys, this brings massive reductions to our carbon footprint.

Section 8 – What evidence do you have of positively promoting FORS at requirement G7?

We are keen to promote FORS and the benefits. We will continue upskilling staff and set our goal at FORS Champions. We promote our membership of FORS through our website and social media channels.

Section 9 – Conclusion

Achieving Gold Accreditation will act as a waymarker for us, rather than an end point.  We will continue to explore new technologies to drive down road and site risk and share the learning across the industry.

Section 11 – FORS members’ feedback questionnaire

Please could you take the time to complete a short questionnaire and provide feedback about FORS. Please note all answers you provide will be strictly confidential and will only be used by FORS to help us to improve the scheme. To access the survey, please click the link here: https://www.snapsurveys.com/wh/s.asp?k=153908006313

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