Published: 22nd June 2021
FORS (Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme) has introduced a Mixed Accreditation, a new route to achieve Silver and/or Gold accreditation to offer more flexibility to members who wish to progress within FORS but who need more time to accredit their entire fleet at the higher level of accreditation
Mixed accreditation (MA) allows for Bronze and Silver accredited members to progress to Silver or Gold level over a set period of time – a maximum of five years. This allows operators to hold a higher level of accreditation for selected vehicles and suitably qualified drivers within their organisation.
Once Mixed Accreditation is approved, FORS operators will receive their Silver or Gold MA certificate, listing the vehicle registration numbers accredited to Silver or Gold level. However, the drivers accredited to Silver or Gold level will not be listed on the certificate.
The MA certificate is valid for one year and the MA status of the FORS accredited organisation will be displayed on the Who’s on Board? page on the FORS website.
To apply for Mixed Accreditation, members must:
- Complete a progression plan covering the whole MA process prior to submitting the first MA application
- Commit to progressively increasing the MA scope by at least 20 per cent at each yearly re-approval application, until the next level of accreditation is achieved for the whole FORS scope – this must be done by no later than the fifth year
The Silver MA and Gold MA application forms are available on the new MA page on the members’ dashboard. The forms allow users to evidence Silver and Gold requirements as follows:
If you are a Bronze member:
- Silver requirements ‘S1 FORS Bronze’, ‘S3 Fuel, emissions and air quality’, ‘S4 Road risk’, ‘S7 Noise Pollution’, ‘S8 Internal communications’ and ‘S9 Sub-contracted services’ must be met for the whole organisation
- Silver requirements ‘S2 Performance data’ and ‘S6 Vehicle safety equipment’ must be met for the vehicles included in the Silver MA scope only
- Silver requirement ‘S5 Professional development’ must be met for the drivers declared in the MA scope only, but evidence for S5 must also include the required training for all managers and other transport staff
If you are a Silver member:
- Gold requirements ‘G1 FORS Silver’, ‘G3 FORS Case study’, ‘G4 Recruitment and retention’, ‘G6 Sustainable operations’, ‘G7 Promoting FORS’, ‘G8 Staff travel’ and ‘G9 Contacted services’ must be met for the whole organisation
- Gold requirement ‘G2 Performance data’, and the safety equipment element of Gold requirement ‘G6 Sustainable operations’ must be met for the vehicles included in the Gold MA scope only
- Requirement ‘G5 Professional development’ must be met for the drivers declared in the Gold MA scope only, but evidence for G5 must also include the required training for all managers and other transport staff
To apply, operators must have at least 45 calendar days left on their current Bronze accreditation, and Silver if applicable, at the time of submission.
Vehicle Safety Equipment
For any help achieving your FORS Mixed Accreditation, especially in regards to vehicle safety equipment, speak with our commercial vehicle safety specialists today, or take a look at our FORS Packages.
As SM UK are a FORS Associate, we are proud to offer members a 10% discount on FORS safety systems.