Morrison Water Services proves its safer, smarter, greener fleet credentials

Morrison Water Services, a part of M Group Services’ Water Division, has successfully demonstrated its safer, smarter and greener fleet credentials to achieve a silver accreditation in the demanding Fleet Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS).

During Road Safety Week (14 – 20 November) Road Safety Week, Morrison Water Services is announcing achieving this recognition of the higher safety, environmental and fleet compliance standards for the Thames Water Smart Metering contract, a fleet of around 200 vehicles and operatives.

The team is responsible for delivering an ambitious programme of street-by-street meter installations over the last seven years as part of Thames Water’s drive to transform its metering infrastructure by fitting compulsory water meters for its customers. Morrison Water Services has completed over 980,000 installations since 2016. Smart water meters allow customers to automatically track the amount of water they use. Importantly they also allow Thames Water to identify and fix leaks more quickly.

Keeping our people, clients, customers and the public safe is a top priority. The Smart Metering contract fleet covers almost half a million miles a month in the Greater London area alone, so driver behaviour and road safety are of paramount importance.

A voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators, FORS, aims to improve standards within fleet operations and demonstrate which operators are achieving exemplary levels of best practice in safety, efficiency and environmental protection.

David Tann, Morrison Water Services’ Contract Director for Thames Water, said: “Over the last few years, industry standards within fleet operations have evolved to support vehicles, drivers, managers and our operations.

“Achieving the high safety standards required to achieve FORS recognition demonstrates to our people and clients that we are continuously raising standards and are committed to ensuring safety at all times.

“Accreditation was achieved while maintaining all business objectives, targets and individual customer appointments, the team of managers and operatives on the contract deserve a big round of applause. Only a few businesses can demonstrate this level of compliance and training, I’m happy to say we are part of the best.

“Our client is delighted with our safety, environmental and fleet compliance.”

Achieving Silver accreditation has been a long-term commitment for the contract team which had to provide evidence about Morrison Water Services’ commitment to managing road risk, professional development for our drivers and managers, noise pollution, emission, vehicle safety and vehicle compliance.

As part of the demanding accreditation process, a small team led by Eugene Yirenkyi, Transport and Plant Manager for the contract, delivered training to over 220 driver operatives and more than 20 managers. The training was a blend of live scenario training, Virtual Reality exercises and classroom-based learning.

Our operatives and managers have all successfully completed a comprehensive safety training programme. The accreditation audit process required evidence of the policies in place and the steps being taken to reduce vehicle emissions and improve air quality, road risk initiatives and best-in-fleet telematics to support safe driver behaviours.

The accreditation is annual, and the contract team is already working towards achieving FORS Gold standard accreditation next year, demonstrating our continuous commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety for our operatives, clients and their customers and members of the public.