BioMarsh Environmental Ltd –Maintaining Gold

BioMarsh Environmental Ltd –Maintaining Gold

Founded in 1972 with one vehicle, BioMarsh has grown to be one of the leading companies in its field. BioMarsh’s expertise is in liquid waste disposal and the clearing of sewers, septic tanks and waste removal of sewage and non-hazardous waste. Our team of highly skilled professionals also offer jetting and industrial waste management and are specialists in Aco drain and 24 hour emergency waste removal. We are proud of our company and to mark both our efficiency and high standards we carry a number of trade certifications such as Constructionline, CHAS, Achilles, RISQS and Safe Contractor. Today the company fleet comprises of 61 HGV vehicles and covers the whole of the UK.

Since initially applying for FORS Bronze in January 2017 we have progressed up the ranks through Silver and finally onto Gold in March 2018. We first came across FORS when tendering for work across London. When we looked at the requirements and benefits of joining the scheme we saw that they fitted in perfectly with our ethos of improving safety whilst complementing our drive to improve fuel efficiency and reduce our environmental impact.

BioMarsh take compliance and safety very seriously. FORS has helped us by providing training and tools that have enabled us to improve our policies, procedures and training. Our FORS membership prompted us to implement a more effective IT vehicle management system in the form of Job Watch. Job Watch enables us to manage our fleet down to the smallest detail from effective journey planning, identifying vehicle locations to monitoring harsh breaking.

This has allowed us to save costs on fuel, time, and management of vehicles as well as reducing our impact on the environment by reducing CO2, NOX and PM. Since its launch in August we have seen a reduction in journeys and cost per mile travelled. The system also allowed us to more effectively manage drivers within the time allowed under their permitted hours.

In summary this has resulted in a reduction in overheads and increased profitability.

‘FORS has been the driver in assisting us push forward brave and innovative improvements within the company.’ – Adam Lowe – Head of Compliance

All our drivers have completed their Safe Urban Driving course. All our drivers have also completed FORS E-Learning modules as well. We have also maintained investment in vehicle safety systems cameras, nearside proximity sensors and audible alarms across our fleet.

‘We have increased our MPG by 110% since our baseline year’ – Adam Lowe – Head of Compliance.

We have managed to reduce our Parking fines by 18% and accidents/incidents by 10% since our baseline year. We achieved this by making sure we always selected the best route possible to all our sites and we plan ahead before leaving the yard. This has been assisted in the latter half of 2018 by the introduction of Job Watch.

MPG Incidents  Number of Parking Fines and Charges
 Jan 14 – Dec 2015  7.15  57  92
 Jan 18 – Dec 2018  15.19  51  72
 Percentage improvement  110%  10%  18%
  • All BioMarsh drivers continue to complete a comprehensive Medical Declaration on an annually basis even though the FORS Standard states once every 5 years. It is also stated in the driver’s handbook that if drivers at any point in time develop a medical condition they need to notify the company immediately. The taking of any medication likely to effect a driver’s ability to perform safely must also be immediately reported.
  • We maintain a progressive approach to recruitment with a mix of internal training and promotions as well as bringing new blood into the company.
  • BioMarsh have looked into the purchase of alternatively fuelled vehicles however current technology does not permit the practical application of such vehicles for our mode of operation. We have also assessed alternative methods of carrying our loads but due to the hazardous properties of the material it is not possible to use alternative modes of transport.

Maintaining FORS Gold Accreditation has enabled us to show our customers and competitors that we are an operator of best practice. We proudly display our Gold accreditation across our fleet and on our stationary.

We hope that this will help pull up the standards within our industry and have a trickledown effect on our suppliers and sub-contractors.

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