ATC Receives Gold Accreditation from FTA Ireland
Throughout my career, I have witnessed the consequences of transport and logistics companies not keeping a watchful eye over the intricate details of their operations, which, in turn, can lead to severe repercussions down the road. Road safety, vehicle maintenance and legal compliance are more complex than ever, and simply having the paperwork may not be enough for the legislative bodies across Europe.
We decided that the time was right to upgrade our TruckSafe Bronze accreditation from FTA Ireland to Gold. So we invited FTA Ireland into the business to complete a full audit of our operations, systems and processes.
Those of you who have followed our journey for some time will remember that we joined FTA Ireland in September 2018. We rely on our industry representative bodies to increase our awareness of safety standards, legislative requirements put forward by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), and industry best practice. In January 2018, we successfully passed our first audit and received a bronze accreditation.
On Thursday, February 20th, FTA Ireland’s senior Auditor Mr Donncha Cody carried out a risk management and operational compliance audit at our operations centre in Greenogue and our headquarters in Citywest.
The audit benchmarked our compliance levels against the minimum legal standards required to ensure the safe and sustainable operation of all our vehicles and business. The auditor had access to all necessary systems and documentation to complete his assessment against the ten accreditation areas:
- Fatigue
- Roadworthiness
- Driver Competence
- Road Traffic Rules
- Safe and Legal Loads
- Financial Standing
- Professional Competence
- Contractor and Support Services Management
- Sustainable Operations
- Health and Safety
In each area, we were able to demonstrate to the Auditor that the system was managed efficiently and effectively, which secured our Gold Accreditation.
This Gold Accreditation is significant for the whole team as it confirms our responsibility to compliance, legislation and regulations in operating a successful transport business that is above and beyond reproach.
We believe that our company’s culture and values have assisted in gaining our TruckSafe Gold accreditation, especially our focus on health and safety. ATC continues to invest in training for all our staff and will continue to hold independent audits from bodies such as the FTA Ireland Truck Safe Programme to ensure we maintain the highest operation standards – always.
Keith Young
Managing Director
