My name is James Williams, I am the FORS Compliance Manager at GJ Bowmer Waste in Brentwood Essex. We specialise in Asbestos Disposal and are one of the few companies operating in this area so FORS has given us the opportunity to set ourselves above the rest by displaying our compliance through our FORS accreditations.

Since our initial Gold accreditation gained in 2018, we have replaced three older trucks with new and we will also be replacing two more this year. As a result, we have seen a marked improvement in fuel usage vehicle reliability helping us maintain the FORS requirements to reduce CO₂ emissions, lowered NOx and Particulate Matter emissions.

We have also gained vehicles which are DVS compliant for operating within London and reduced our maintenance costs. The new vehicles will also improve road safety for us and vulnerable road users.

We were first made aware of FORS when it was with the FTA in 2013, we are long standing members of the FTA and it seemed logical to progress in this direction. We immediately noticed the supportive tools available through FORS and decided to utilise them to support our compliant approach.

Initially, FORS was for our benefit then in 2017 it became a contractual requirement for one of our main clients.

Back in 2013 we had our first Bronze audit, this was something we had planned for but were still shocked at the depth the auditor investigated. It is obvious why it should be this way, but we had no idea what to expect and no one to ask.

For us moving from Bronze to Silver and then onto Gold was a no brainer, as the only specialist asbestos disposal company in the area we were fully aware that there was an opportunity to gain large contracts with the ministry of defence and other organisations who insist on having Gold suppliers.

Since we gained our Bronze accreditation, we quickly utilised the funded training for our drivers, invested in our office team and started reaping the rewards that being FORS Accredited offered us. I am a FORS Practitioner. Combine this with the Safe Urban Driving, eLearning and the Compliance Tools on offer we are shocked that all transport companies have not joined yet.

James Williams FORS Compliance Manager “We immediately noticed the supportive tools available”.

	MPG	Incidents per 100,000 Kms	CO2	NOx	PM10	Number of PCNs	Proportion of fleet that uses alternative fuels
2018-2019	5.92	0	696.98	1.26	0.02	0	0%
2019-2020	3.80	0.25	788.05	1035.74	18.23	0	0%
2020-2021	5,95	0.25	660.37	1444.92	21.63	6	0%
Percentage improvement	xx%	0%	6.17%	44%	6.9%	600%	0%

With our intensive company induction process, driver assessments and constant monitoring of our staff this ensures that all our drivers are in perfect health allowing them to drive our vehicles safely and compliantly going forward. We also have an open-door policy which allows drivers to talk to us regarding any medical conditions or other health conditions.

We do not have a high turnover of drivers, our long-standing reputation as a good employer supports new drivers being recruited by recommendation alone. We do have a recruitment process in place should it be required.

Our industry is the most heavily regulated. To that end all our operations are constantly being measured for noise internally to keep a check on our impact on not only the resident’s lives but the livelihood of our staff too. Vehicles are selected for not only fuel efficiency but their noise impact.

We are constantly looking for alternatively fuelled vehicles but the type of work, distance and stresses we put on our vehicles stops us from considering anything else at present

We are already planning well into the future with two new trucks arriving this year and an order placed for two more trucks in 2022. By 2025 we plan to have a nearly new fleet operating within London.

We are looking to cement our contracts with organisations like the ministry of defence who insist on us having the Gold standard.

We will continue to listen to our workforce and retain our loyal driver team.

We continue to support Concord Rangers football club based on Canvey Island and also have a kit sponsor with Great Danes youth football club.

We are promoting ourselves at Warley Golf club which is next to our operating centre.

As well as this the FORS logo appears on our website, email. Flyers, business cards and our fleet of trucks.

By maintaining the Gold standard, we are able to work with top organisations and we are able to demonstrate out transport compliance.

James Williams 04/05/2021

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