Agenda Item 11
Report to:
Cycle City Ambition Board
Report of:
Transport Development Specialist
Report title: Construction Logistics and Cycle Safety (CLOCS)
Date: 13 May 2015
Purpose of Report: For Information
Background
Interest in Cycling has boomed in recent years, following on from Olympic and Tour
de France successes, the UK successfully hosting major cycling events, as well as
an increased recognition that cycling is good for people’s health and the
environment. Almost everywhere in the country there has been significant growth in
the levels of cycling.
There has been calls for increased investment in cycling infrastructure, and the
government has increased funding (such as via Cycle City Ambition Grants) but
there is an increased level of cycling taking place on the existing road network.
Therefore, alongside the growth in cycling, there has been an increase in cycling
Road Traffic Collision casualties – figures for 2014 are up 38% on the 2005 to 2009
average nationally.
On this basis, Cycling and Road Safety is a major concern and there are a number
of national and local campaigns calling for more space for cycling as well as for
measures to reduce the numbers of cyclists being injured on the road network. It is
also worth pointing out that whether there is a valid road safety concern or not,
simply the perception of problems can be a major barrier to increasing cycling levels.
Background to CLOCS
In London in particular there has been a number of high profile fatal road traffic
collisions involving cyclists and a large proportion (55% between 2008 and 2013)
have involved HGV’s, despite HGV’s only accounting for around 4% or all road miles
travelled within London. Quite often the HGV’s involved in the collisions were
involved in the construction supply chain.
Agenda Item 11
It was with this background that 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 Transport Research Laboratory.
The report found that:

Blind spots on construction vehicles could be larger than general haulage
vehicles

Road safety was not considered in the same way as health and safety on-site

There was little understanding of the impact of construction activity on road safety

There was no common standard for the industry to work to in order to manage
work related road safety
What is CLOCS?
To help improve the safety of vulnerable road users the CLOCS Standards for
managing Work Related Road Risk have been developed. CLOCS aims to

Increase the use of safer trucks by design

Ensure road safety is managed with the same rigour as site safety

Ensure a national standard for managing construction related work related road
risk
The standards cover the whole range of the operation of fleet vehicles
encompassing routing and scheduling of vehicles, warning signage, minimising blind
spots, maneuvering warnings, loading and unloading and site access / egress.
At the current time, CLOCS is an industry led initiative comprising of the best
practice of operators. There are 3 ways that an organisation can be involved with
CLOCS:

Client organisations and/ or projects implementing the WRRR Standard within its
contracts

Fleet operators committed to adhering to the requirements within the standard
across their operations
Agenda Item 11

Organisations which by the nature of their business or purpose may not be able
to actively implement the CLOCS standard, but which have committed to
supporting the WRRR Standard and its purpose.
Freight Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS)
Nationally, there is Freight Operators Recognition Scheme (FORS) which aims to
encourage Freight Operators to consider all aspects of safety, fuel efficiency,
economical operations and vehicle emissions. FORS is a voluntary scheme that
helps improve operators’ performance in each of these areas.
For vehicle operators, it offers peace of mind that they are meeting their legislative
requirements, as well as helping to increase efficiency, reduce costs and win work.
There is an accreditation scheme with Bronze, Silver and Gold Levels. The silver
level is equivalent to CLOCS as shown below.
Current Situation in Newcastle / Tyne and Wear
From an analysis of road traffic collisions in Newcastle it does not appear that
collisions between HGVs and Cyclists are currently a major issue in Newcastle.
Agenda Item 11
There is only one reported injury collision in the last 5 years that resulted in a slight
injury.
Newcastle City Council does however, have a target for 20% of all trips under five
miles to be undertaken by cycle by 2021. Given this target and the proposals for
investment and development within the city over the next few years then
consideration of promoting the implementation of CLOCS across the city could well
be worthwhile in order to ensure that road safety is not negatively impacted.
At the Tyne and Wear level there is a Freight Partnership which operates FORS for
this area. In Tyne and Wear there are currently 109 organisations registered with
FORS of which 34 are ‘dormant’, 3 are ‘registered’ but not accredited at any level
and 63 are at bronze level. Only 3 meet the Silver Level.
Future Developments
In March 2015, Newcastle City Council received a letter from Nigel Jackson on
behalf of CLOCS which set out that they would like to extend CLOCS standards to
Cycle City Ambition Cities and that they would be prepared to come to Newcastle
provide further information about the standards and how they may work here. It is
suggested that we take this offer up.
It is known that where CLOCS has been successful is where Public Organisations
have set meeting CLOCS Standard as a procurement requirement – only
organisations (or their subcontractors) that have a CLOCS compliant fleet can bid for
work from that organisation. There is nothing like this currently in place in Newcastle
(or elsewhere in the North East). Thoughts around this issue would be useful.