Scottish housing contractor demands FORS Silver standards from supply chain

By Tim Campbell

19 June 2018

Insulated Render Systems (IRS), has demanded FORS Silver standards across its supply chain in drive to manage manage its Work Related Road Risk (WRRR).

The decision was made to promote on-road safety for suppliers delivering to its locations. While many companies specify FORS across their supply chain, IRS has demanded a silver standard from its suppliers within 18 months.

This requirement will then become mandatory and written into all IRS contracts from the beginning of 2019.

IRS (Scotland)’s operations manager Kevin Callaghan said: “Construction vehicles are involved in a disproportionality high number of fatalities with respect to all road traffic deaths, and we feel a moral obligation to address the issue.

"We want to make a difference where we can. We’re taking seriously our responsibilities to other road users and the wider public.

“By demanding our supply chain operates to a minimum of FORS Silver, we will know all our contractors and suppliers actively promote safety on the roads by educating their drivers and staff, and that they have robust procedures in place to effectively manage their WRRR.”

At FORS Silver, members must prove that they are taking steps to drastically improve the overall safety of their fleet and are managing their WRRR, and requires operators to monitor how their fleets are run to improve efficiencies in performance and emissions.

FORS’ business services manager Paul Wilkes said: “Improving safety on our roads and in the environments in which our members work is a primary aim for us; with each level of progression through the scheme adding greater emphasis on safety. Yet managing work related road risk is a broad issue, and is everyone's responsibility. It is an issue best tackled with a unified approach across the supply chain.

“We applaud IRS for its decision to set FORS Silver as a minimum requirement. There is no doubt this measure will help promote a culture of safety to all suppliers, and therefore help improve road safety for all road users.”