After five cyclists lost their lives on London’s roads in just nine days – with construction-related tipper trucks involved in two of the fatal collisions – the capital’s construction sector is set to sign up to a new code of practice setting stringent safety standards on vehicles.
Transport for London is preparing to launch the new industry-backed code for construction logistics at an event on 9 December, following six months of preparation by an industry working group.
The code will extend the safety culture that already exists on sites onto London’s roads, with signatories embedding best practice on vehicle and logistics safety in contracts and subcontracts.
It draws on 11 different existing standards already operated by organisations such as Crossrail and the Mineral Products Association, taking the toughest elements of each rather than average approach. Twenty clients and contractors have already pledged to sign up to the code.
Ian Wainwright, road freight programme manager at TfL, told CM: “We’ve tried to take the best from each of the existing codes, to create a clear lead in construction logistics. Transport for London’s role has just been to put everyone in the room, but the industry have taken this forward and led on this.”
“The Code of Practice clearly states that any vehicle procured for a project has to be up to the job – that’s what you expect if you order steelwork and it has to be the same for vehicles too.”
Work on the code got underway last May, following a cross-industry forum on construction vehicle safety convened by TfL (see our story here). The forum discussed TfL’s research into worrying figures on cycle accidents: in 2010 there were 10 deaths, with four involving HGVs, while in 2011 there were 16 deaths with 12 involving HGVs.
Last year, there was a slight dip, with 14 cyclist deaths, of which five were HGV-related, and so far this year there have been 13 deaths, with eight involving HGVs.
“We had a really positive reaction from the big firms in the construction sector, they know they don’t want to be associated with poor safety standards, so they’ve taken ownership of work-related road risk,” said Wainwright.
At the same time, TfL and the Department for Transport have launched a new inspection regime targeting vehicles involved in illegal tipping and other infringements. The two organisations are now funding a new Vehicle Task Force, launched at the beginning of October, to target enforcement efforts at vehicles and contractors breaching laws on weight limits and driver hours as well as vehicle safety.
Wainwright was unable to supply figures on enforcement action so far, but said that prohibition notices taking vehicles off the road had been served in the majority of cases where vehicles had been stopped.
Meanwhile, the Code of Practice will be self-policing, rather than enforced by a third party monitor. “In the majority of cases, self-policing works well. The signatories will embed it throughout their tendering and procurement processes. If the indsutry is doing its work and the resources are available to deal with the people not complying with the rules, there will be action at two ends of the spectrum,” said Wainwright.
In a third tactic, in September London mayor Boris Johnson announced a consultation on a proposed Safer Lorry Charge, modelled on the Low Emission Zone charge, which would mean any vehicle driving in London without basic safety equipment is fined £200 a day.
