LEADING civil engineering firm Cappagh Group has been awarded the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) Gold level accreditation.
The family owned firm, founded by Tipperary-native Tom Ferncombe in the 1960s, has been operating in the construction sector for more than 50 yesrs.
From its base in south-west London, it offers services in transport and plant, highways, utilities, waste management, readymix concrete, rail freight, recycled aggregates and land remediation.
With a large portfolio of blue chip clients in public and private spheres, Cappagh Group claims the secret to its success is adherence to safety, efficiency, environmental issues and performance management.
Regarding their recent FORS accreditation, Cappagh’s Group Transport Manager Dave Fahey said: "Being accredited FORS standard is important from a safety and environmental perspective but makes good business sense too. We pride ourselves on offering great service whilst maintaining the highest level of legal and safety compliance. Operating construction vehicles in London and the south-east of England, we are high profile.”
The FORS logo, which represents the voluntary accreditation scheme – which assists fleet operators in measuring and monitoring performance and making modifications to demonstrate best practice to customers and those in their supply chain – has since been added to Cappagh’s fleet, email communications and social media platforms.
Having previously come through bronze and silver audits, the firm already understands the benefits of FORS training and standards – with membership of FORS required by some clients and suppliers, many of whom are also FORS accredited.
Jack Barnard, Cappagh’s champion for driver related training, added: ‘We’ve been utilising the FORS eLearning programme to good effect and consider the quality of this material to be good.
“Recently we have conducted “classroom” eLearning courses enabling us to manage driver participation and engagement better.
“We’ve now been using almost exclusively FORS accredited training providers, often meaning we can meet the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) and FORS requirement simultaneously saving time and money.
“Furthermore, FORS learning has simplified delivery, record keeping and certification. I find if you ask a driver to log on themselves even those lacking computer skills manage the system fine.”
Improvements measured and implemented by Cappagh in pursuit of FORS accreditation include reductions in fuel usage and gas emissions, proactively training 10 per cent of staff as mental health first aiders, working towards recruitment and retention of drivers through supportive training programmes and social activities and appropriate noise assessment and control in urban areas.
