Author: Fuel Card Services

Quattro (UK) Ltd are based in Park Royal and supply a variety of services to the construction and utilities sectors in West London and adjoining areas. Eamon O’Loughlin, Transport Director, explains how Quattro (UK) Ltd have increased awareness of vulnerable road user safety through the FORS approved safe urban driving, e-learning modules and the additional safety equipment fitted to our vehicles.

Quattro (UK) Ltd were early adopters of FORS and have worked on many projects that endorse the scheme including Crossrail and TFL.

Quattro (UK) Ltd has always taken its organisational responsibilities seriously and this is demonstrated by our many accreditation’s including ISO 9001 & 14001, QSRMC and BES 6001. Needless to say we were prepared for our initial FORS Bronze assessment and passing first time confirmed our commitment.

Once we had our Bronze accreditation we start working hard on our Silver application through driver and management training with the courses provided by FORS. FORS also encouraged us to look at our operations in a different way with the result that we have seen improvement in real costs such as improving fuel usage and those hidden costs including improved driver retention. FORS has been a key element in our safety program over the last few years and we are constantly aiming to improve this by investing in new vehicles fitted with the latest safety equipment. Driver and management safety awareness training is also of the utmost importance. 

 As a FORS Gold accredited member this will reinforce and demonstrate our commitment on safety to our staff, customers and all road users.

Fuel Card Services has teamed up with Applied Driving Techniques (ADT) to offer fleet operators a free Compliance Health Check. This offers major cost savings, fewer road collisions and protected corporate reputation. It reveals how well a fleet complies with health and safety, duty of care, and other relevant legal requirements.

Compliance

Jim Golby, ADT director of research and customer experience at ADT, said, “Many employers are unwittingly exposed and at risk due to their failure to ensure staff driving on behalf of the business are operating compliantly. This is despite clear HSE guidance, since 2003, designating driving on business an ‘at work’ activity. Almost a third of deaths on UK roads occur during business-related journeys.”

The Compliance Health Check reviews existing processes, identifying any gaps in the driver safety policy, fleet safety audit trail, driver-specific risk assessment and document checking. It also checks management procedures for grey fleets, where employees drive their own vehicles on work-related journeys. There is no legal distinction between these vehicles and in-house company cars and vans, creating added liabilities for a business.

Jim Golby said, “Any road incident puts valued employees, other road users and the general public at risk, so it is essential to take proactive steps to protect the safety and wellbeing of a workforce. In addition to the legal implications of non-compliance, road collisions are both costly and time consuming. They increase insurance premiums and associated claims cost. Alongside such indirect overheads as lost working time, increased maintenance, reduced operational efficiency, missed deadlines and absenteeism.”

Risk

Few fleet operators appreciate the degree of risk involved in driving for work. A driver covering 25,000 business miles annually is more likely than an agricultural labourer to be killed while working. The chief benefits for fleets of legal compliance are dramatically fewer and less costly road incidents. Full compliance also involves addressing poor driver behaviour, bringing added benefits in terms of reduced vehicle wear and tear and improved fuel consumption.

Tom Cosway, Head of Commercial Business for Fuel Card Services, said, “As part of our CompleteCare service, in partnership with ADT, we can help any fleet manager to ensure that their legal liabilities are fully covered.”

“Ensuring a fully compliant, much safer and more productive workforce can be achieved for as little as £30 annually per driver,” said Jim Golby. “Paying the insurance excess on a single collision will cover that many times over.”