CLOCS continues to set the Standard with over 100 industry Champions

One hundred organisations and individual construction projects have now shown their commitment to improving the safety of vulnerable road users through becoming CLOCS Champions*, just two years after the initiative was launched. With this number continuing to rise fast, the need to treat on-road safety with the same importance as on-site safety is quickly being recognised across the construction industry.  

Through the CLOCS – Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety –  initiative, the construction industry is focusing on three streams of work to reduce the risk of a collision between construction vehicles and vulnerable road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians. These are: improving vehicle safety; addressing the imbalance between the treatment of on-site and on-road safety; and encouraging wider adoption of best practice across the industry through adoption of a common national standard.

CLOCS Champions are organisations and individual construction projects who have committed to implementing the CLOCS Standard within their own organisations and across their supply chains. The growing list of Champions is made up of fleet operators, construction clients and developers, as well as organisations that, based on the nature of their business, cannot actively implement the Standard, but are committed to support its application and purpose.

The current list of CLOCS Champions includes a wide variety of organisations, from Thames Tideway Tunnel and Travis Perkins, to the London Borough of Camden and Skanska.

John Hix, CLOCS Project Director: “Cyclist fatalities are on the rise and it’s a sad fact that too many of these incidents involve construction vehicles. But there has been a huge response to the problem from the construction industry, demonstrated by so many companies, of all sizes, embracing the CLOCS initiative and making a true commitment to change.

“As we pass the 100 Champions mark, and with numbers continuing to increase, we encourage operators nationwide to look at the impact this work is already having.  Talking to us and the other existing Champions about improving on-road safety could be beneficial for not just other road users but also their own staff and businesses.”   

To find out more about CLOCS, or to learn out what it takes to become a Champion, please visit the website at www.clocs.org.uk.

Media contacts:

Caroline Holmes, 020 7952 1072 cholmes@torqueagencygroup.com

Adam Forshaw, 020 7952 1082 aforshaw@torqueagencygroup.com

Notes to editors:

Implemented by local authorities through planning conditions and construction clients through contracts, the CLOCS Standard provides a common set of requirements to manage work-related road safety that can be adhered to in a consistent way by fleet operators.

For more information visit http://www.clocs.org.uk/

Between 2008 and 2013, 55 per cent of cyclist fatalities in London involved a heavy goods vehicle and nationally large goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes are involved in approximately 15 per cent of cyclist and 10 per cent of pedestrian fatalities. A disproportionate number of these were construction vehicles. In 2012 Transport for London commissioned an independent review of the construction sector’s transport activities to understand the causes of these collisions and how they might be prevented. The resulting ‘Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety' (CLOCS) report was published in February 2013 by the Transport Research Laboratory.

In response, the construction logistics industry demonstrated its commitment to change and identified actions under three work streams to improve road safety. CLOCS brings together the construction logistics industry nationwide to revolutionise the management of work-related road risk and embed a road safety culture across the industry as the UK's population and economy grows.

• Improving vehicle safety through design and manufacture of safer new vehicles and fitment of appropriate safety equipment to existing vehicles
• Addressing the safety imbalance in the construction industry through ensuring road safety is considered as important as health and safety on site
• Encouraging wider adoption of best practice across the construction logistics industry through taking best-in-class examples, developing a common national standard and embedding a new cultural norm.  

*CLOCS Champions

CLOCS Champions are organisations and /or individual construction projects actively implementing the requirements within and ensuring compliance to the CLOCS Standard. These may be fleet operators, construction clients, developers or other organisations which by the nature of their business may not be able to actively implement the Standard but commit to supporting its implementation and purpose.  

Champions are listed on the CLOCS website and are able to use the CLOCS logo and branding elements on their site material and stationery to promote CLOCS and specifically the Standard.

Organisations wishing to become CLOCS Champions should read the Terms of Reference and sign a Memorandum of Understanding, both of which are available on the CLOCS website, www.clocs.org.uk.