Silver version 4 - FORS - Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme

GOING FOR SILVER

Silver accreditation confirms that you employ good practice and comply with the requirements laid out by the FORS Standard. By achieving FORS Silver accreditation your fleet will be compliant with the CLOCS Standard for Construction Logistics and with TfL’s WRRR (Work Related Road Risk).

Your route to Silver accreditation

Getting ready - FORS Standard version 5

READ – the top five most common reasons for audit failures and tips on how to avoid these

Requirement	Reason for failure	Be able to demonstrate that you have…
S4 – Road risk	Failure to upload your policy Failure to include evidence of insurance review Failure to list the Road Risk Champion	Developed the policy that you created for Bronze requirement O3 Included all the mandatory elements, such as for example evidence of a meeting with your insurance provider in the last 12 months, and competencies for the Road Risk Champion Top tip – make sure you upload your updated policy
S5 – Professional development	Failure for all relevant staff to undertake appropriate training Failure to produce or update the professional development plan for all staff	Got all your drivers and all other staff involved in the fleet operation trained in accordance with the mandatory training requirements listed at Annexes 1 and 2 of the FORS Standard. This includes the new LoCITY eLearning requirement and on-cycle training where applicable Top tip – If you want to use the recently launched Training dashboard to evidence how you meet this requirement, make sure you read the full guidance within the training dashboard so that you submit accurate training records A professional development plan (PDP) in place that is updated for Silver and includes the names of ALL drivers and other staff involved in the fleet operation Top tip – a PDP and completed training can be evidenced in the same document. Certificates can also be uploaded to demonstrate that mandatory training has been completed
S8 – Internal communications	Failure to produce or upload your annual communication plan	Developed an annual plan to communicate topical issues as detailed in the demonstration of the FORS Standard Top tip – make sure you upload a copy of your plan, as well as examples of communications, such as copies of emails, memos, posters, toolbox talks, in-cab signage etc.
S3 – Fuel and emissions and air quality	Failure to upload your policy Failure to list the Fuel and Emissions Champion	Developed the policy that you created for Bronze requirement O2 Included all the mandatory elements, such as for example evidence of the Fuel and Emissions Champion’s competence, details of fleet performance management that enables effective and efficient analysis, and the fuel efficiency and emissions reduction initiatives that are in place or are planned Top tip – make sure you upload a copy of your updated policy
S7 Noise pollution	Failure to carry out noise assessment	Carried out a noise assessment Top tip – Make sure you upload a copy of your noise assessment. FORS has produced a noise assessment template (access via the Getting ready section) – it is not mandatory to use but it will help you cover all aspects of the requirement

Please check your scope of accreditation in the FORS evidencing system before submitting your application to make sure you include all operating centres in scope, but no more than that. Remember that there must be a minimum of 45 days left on your Bronze accreditation when submitting evidence for a Silver application for the first time. For re-approval of Silver, there must also be 45 days left on your Bronze and also on your Silver accreditation.

FORS has produced a number of templates to assist you with evidencing specific requirements, as listed below.

S6 Vehicle safety equipment
The FORS Standard version 5 requirement S6 Vehicle safety equipment stipulates that operators must evidence that HGVs are fitted with enhanced vulnerable road user safety equipment using the FORS vehicle safety equipment report. This report is in the form of a template which you will need to populate with the relevant information.

The spreadsheet based template is available to download from the relevant section of the evidencing system or you can click the button below to access the templates for S6.

You can check the FORS Vehicle Safety Equipment Guide here for details on how to meet all vehicle safety equipment requirements, including S6.

S7 Noise pollution
FORS has revised this template to help you meet requirement S7 Noise pollution. Whilst this template is not mandatory to use, you are encouraged to use it to ensure that you cover all aspects of the requirement. However if you have your own template which contains the same information, this will be accepted as evidence and should be uploaded in the usual way. The template will be available to download from the relevant section of the evidencing system or you can click the button below to access it.

S6 Vehicle safety equipment

S7 Noise Assessment

Application

FORS operators applying for initial FORS Silver accreditation must have at least 45 calendar days left on their Bronze accreditation. To gain Silver accreditation, FORS operators must provide evidence for every OC in scope of FORS Silver accreditation, demonstrating that they meet the specific requirements for Silver. Where multiple OCs are in scope of the Silver accreditation, this may be evidenced in one upload. This must be carried out by accessing FORS online and submitting evidence via the evidencing system (please refer to section 4 of the FORS Standard for details of the Silver requirements).

To apply for Silver, click here.

No physical audit takes place for FORS Silver.

Accreditation decision

You will be informed of the outcome within 15 working days of submission of your Silver application. If your application is not successful you will be asked to provide further evidence via a follow-up Silver submission within 30 calendar days of initial notification of your result. If you don’t achieve Silver within the 30 calendar day follow-up period, a new full submission is necessary.

Certification

The scheme administrator will email the primary contact with the application outcome, attaching a copy of the FORS Silver electronic certificate if successful. The certificate includes all locations in scope of accreditation. For organisations with Single Operating Centre Accreditation (SOCA), once Silver accreditation is achieved, one extra year will be added to the Bronze accreditation, meaning they will only need a Bronze re-approval audit every two years for as long as the Silver is valid. A new Bronze certificate will not be issued. However the organisation’s Bronze expiry date will be updated on FORS online. For organisations with Multi Operating Centre Accreditation (MOCA) and Internal
Audit Fleet Accreditation (IAFA), no extra year will be added to the Bronze accreditation when Silver is achieved.

Your documents

You must comply with the requirements of the FORS Standard, which must be read in conjunction with the following documents:

FORS Rules and Procedures
FORS Terms and Conditions
FORS Compliance and Enforcement guidance

Click here to access all documents.

How much does it cost?

Your FORS fee is made up of the annual subscription fee (based on fleet size) and an audit fee (based on the number of operating centres accredited). Use the Fees link to access more details.