Lorry safety training & standards

We want all London councils to only procure services from responsible and accredited lorry operators that use the safest lorries, invest in the best-trained drivers, and maintain the safest construction sites.

There are two safety standards for the freight and construction sectors:

• FORS: Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme. You will see FORS stickers on both lorries and work sites. Requirements include vehicle safety equipment, driver license checks, driving training, working hours and safety procedures, and loading and unloading processes. Transport for London already requires all firms tendering for business to have at minimum FORS Silver accreditation.

• CLOCS: Construction Logistics and Community Safety. Requirements include regular site inspections, vehicle safety equipment such as mirrors and cameras, marshals on all work sites, and a compulsory Safer Urban Driving course for all drivers. Following a series of fatal lorry collisions with cyclists in 2012, we successfully pushed for Transport for London to require all its contracting firms to have CLOCS accreditation.

Both FORS and CLOCS were strongly backed by London Cycling Campaign and we are ourselves a strategic partner for the CLOCS standard.

Not all London boroughs have made CLOCS and FORS standards compulsory for their contractors. We continue to lobby through our campaign groups in every London borough to push them to do so.

Safer Urban Driving course

The Government-approved Safer Urban Driving course is one of the optional modules within a lorry driver’s mandatory professional training. It is also a mandatory part of the safety standards for FORS and CLOCS accreditation.

The Safer Urban Driving course involves both classroom work and on-bike experience. Lorry drivers go out on bikes a cycling instructor to help them understand and anticipate how cyclists behave on roads, such as cycling away from car doors to reduce the risk of a collision.

We have championed the Safer Urban Driving course since its inception, and many of our staff have also completed the course.

Over 50,000 drivers, mostly London-based, have now completed the Safer Urban Driving course.