CLOCS is delighted to welcome Laing O’Rouke Senior Logistics Manager, Jon Holder to the CLOCS Strategy, Standards and Governance Board (SSGB). Jon brings a wealth of experience and will prove a valuable asset to the SSGB.

I am delighted to have been appointed to the CLOCS Strategy, Standards, and Governance Board and look forward to joining my peers as we work together to minimise work related road risk.

Having spent more than ten years working in logistics for Select Plant Hire I have personally benefitted from the guidance, training, and support available through CLOCS over the years and I am looking forward to shaping that support for others. I believe that when we pool our knowledge, we gain a better understanding of the risks faced by drivers and consequently, we work collaboratively to find innovative solutions, that are fit for the industry.

Being part of CLOCS and a member of the Strategy, Standards, and Governance Board only strengthens our own business’ commitment. Select has projects, offices, and depots located across the UK and this level of engagement, gives us a great opportunity to support CLOCS’ increasingly national focus.

Logistics moved into the Select Plant Hire business, (which is part of Laing O’Rourke) in 2022 and we’ve always had a focus on enhancing safety, training, and in making sure that we integrate standardised approaches into our operating model.

We’ve been a proud CLOCS champion member for a number of years and have embedded various processes and best practice into the way we go to work. As an example: 

• CLOCS CLPs form part of our pre-construction tools.
• CLOCS SATM standard was rolled out across our projects.
• Monthly CLOCS KPI working groups take place across our projects.

Explore Plant and Transport is another part of our business (a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and William Stobart), where road risk plays a key part to its daily operations, and increasingly, inner-city transportation is forefront of those risks. This part of the business aims to be the leader in haulage and workplace safety, raising standards within the industry and they have developed training and methods of working that I have found hugely interesting. Among the training, all Explore Plant and Transport drivers are trained in defensive driving looking at how to cope with the challenges posed by pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users, and they undertake safer urban driver training to ensure they are skilled to drive in cities.

They are pioneering a team of specialist London drivers who are professionals in making the last leg of deliveries into the city. This has required expansion of our depot network to include our first London Consolidation Centre in Dagenham to detach the long-haul leg from the last mile of the delivery.

The team has also developed something called an Urban Tractor Unit which can take a full-length trailer of up to 44 tonnes capacity. The unit has, low-level seating and a full glass cab giving our drivers direct vision to see, assess, and avoid cyclists, pedestrians, and other vulnerable road users.

As a new board member, I am looking forward to learning more from our partner organisations and to sharing and shaping best practice with you.

Jon Holder