Micromobility Partners (MMP) have today launched an Operations Framework to ensure shared micromobility schemes are delivered to the highest possible operational safety standards.
The independent audit covers nearly 100 individual elements of micromobility operations.
These are split into five pillars: warehouse safety and staff training; maintenance processes; battery storage, transport and charging; end of life processes; and on-street compliance.
“Given the battery fires we have seen recently, what is particularly important right now is ensuring batteries are stored, charged and transported correctly,” Steve Pyer, Director of MMP told Zag Daily. “This includes a fire risk assessment, DGSA compliance and having the right disposal procedures in line with lithium waste regulations.”
Besides servicing operators, the two-day audit is also designed to give local authorities the confidence that their residents are using well maintained vehicle fleets.
“We will go out and do a sample of the assets and check for things like geofence accuracy, vehicle availability, parking accuracy and road worthiness of the vehicle,” said Pyer. “So an L check for the e-scooter and an M check for the bike.
“One optional extra for local authorities specifically is around tender compliance. Some cities don’t really have the time to make sure everything that was promised is being delivered properly, so we do the work for them.”
Scoring follows a Green, Amber, Red approach. Green is a pass, Amber is also a pass but there are some advisories to improve standards, and red is a fail when something is inherently dangerous and should be rectified immediately.
Auditing Dott’s operations
Dott was the first shared operator to have its operations assessed at the company’s main London warehouse and charging hub.
The audit included staff safety, vehicle safety for both its e-bikes and e-scooters, end of life recycling of batteries, as well as on-street vehicle testing.
“We were particularly impressed with some elements of Dott’s operation, especially the EN14470-1 (90) compliant charging cabinets all of their batteries are stored and charged in,” Lindsay Coulthard, Operations Director at MMP told Zag. “This is by far the highest standard we have seen in a micromobility company and shows the gold standard for operating with Lithium batteries.”
Duncan Robertson, UK General Manager at Dott, commented: “Our operations are focused on safety, ensuring that our vehicles are well maintained to provide a reliable service for our customers. MMP’s standardised accreditation is tailored to what we, as an operator, do on a daily basis and ensures standards are met or exceeded. MMP’s audit and feedback has helped us continue to improve, as well as recognising our industry leading battery management.”
The MMP team collectively have more than 30 years experience in the micromobility industry and bring wider experience from management consultancy to asset management, training compliance and workplace HSE management from the British Army.
“We’ve been through the mill,” said Pyer. “We know exactly what good operations should be. We are very much in touch with the industry and best practice, so I think now is the right time to bring micromobility into much higher standards.”
