Cemex, which has been shortlisted for the Motor Transport Safety in Operation award, has achieved Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (Fors) gold status for its national fleet.
The operator, which achieved gold for its London-based fleet under the scheme last summer, has been involved with the Transport for London (TfL)-run initiative since 2008.
It has a 300-plus strong fleet of cement tankers, tippers and ready mix concrete trucks nationally.
Julie Welch, health and safety logistics manager at Cemex, said the company had been on a long-term journey in regards issues such as cycle safety for some time, so in that sense the Fors success served as validation of the steps it had already taken as a business to improve the safety of its fleet and its driver training.
“For anyone thinking of joining Fors I would recommend it, and say that we have got a lot as a business from the workshops that are provided through membership. For example, our London managers attended work shops on accident investigation last year, and the things they learnt on those they than brought back to site,” said Welch.
Welch also said the free CPC training available to Fors members - such as TfL’s safe urban driving –was a great extra operators could take advantage of.
Cemex vehicles feature a suite of safety equipment including a multi-camera system, warning signs, side scan, left-turn audible and under run bars (which are not a legal requirement for construction vehicles).
Fors is set to go through a change of its own, with TfL having put the scheme out to tender with the intention of bringing in a private company to run it commercially.
