FORS moves to ‘demystify’ FORS and CLOCS relationship

FORS has funded a series of half-day workshops to help ‘demystify’ the relationship between FORS and CLOCS. ‘Demystifying FORS and CLOCS’ workshops were developed in 2017 by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) – a key partner in the FORS Community Partnership.

The first ‘Demystifying FORS and CLOCS’ workshop was delivered in London in July with further workshops taking place in Manchester and Birmingham.

Over 200 delegates attended the first phase of the workshop delivery last year with FORS supporting and funding the delivery of workshops in 2018.

FORS and CLOCS are powerful complementary initiatives in place to driveup standards in road risk management across the logistics sector.

Exceptional growth

However, with national growth of the schemes at an exceptional rate there is a perceived confusion as to how they work together.

The ‘Demystifying FORS and CLOCS’ workshop was developed to: provide the background and context as to why the construction sector is taking steps to protect the most vulnerable road users; explain the role of the different stakeholders and the actions they need to take to ensure a consistent road safety standard across the industry and clarify how clients specify the CLOCS Standard in their supply chain and how fleet operators accredit to the FORS to demonstrate CLOCS compliance.

The workshop was designed for anyone with influence within the supply chain, including developers, principal contractors, fleet operators, local authorities and procurement professionals.

Established

CLOCS was established as an industry-led movement in 2013 to address the construction sector’s overrepresentation in fatal collisions involving vulnerable road users. FORS has aligned to the CLOCS requirements since it was launched, in which time both schemes have matured to develop a consistent national standard for managing road risk in logistics operations. CILT senior associate and FORS technical adviser, Glen Davies, believes a level of misperception is understandable but one which can be easily explained.

“With two powerful schemes influencing road safety standards across the country, it is entirely reasonable that there is some confusion and, while there is a similarity, there is both a distinct difference and a crucial connection,” said Davies.

“CLOCS is a set of road safety requirements the construction client expects within the supply chain – FORS is a quality standard for fleet operations that is recognised by the client.”