Members report visits from pesticide enforcement officers

A number of Association members have recently been visited by pesticide enforcement officers (PEO), whose role is to assess use of plant protection products (PPP) by operators throughout England, Scotland and Wales on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). 'Operators' may include importers, manufacturers and distributors/sellers – and most importantly, users of professional plant protection products (PPP).

Whilst feedback from members who have been visited by PEO has been positive, a successful visit relies on operators being able to answer questions and demonstrate competence.

When the officer will visit:

In most cases officers will make contact before the visit to obtain information and to arrange a convenient date. However, an officer may visit any premises during normal working hours without telling the operator beforehand.

Who the officer will speak to:

The PEO will ask to speak to employees who are responsible for the company complying with its duties under the PPP law or have enough knowledge to be able to answer questions about the company’s approach to PPP duties.

What the officer may ask to see during a visit:

• information relating to the active substance, co-formulants and/or formulated plant protection product
• PPPs product packaging and labelling (all containers must be labelled) 
• the storage facilities for PPPs (both at depots and in vehicles)
• examples of PPPs held
• certification held by distributors and/or users
• records required to be kept under plant protection product law

What the officer might ask:

• about what you do
• to see records about the formulation of one or more PPP
• what certification you have if you sell, use or store PPPs
• for details of how you store, handle and dispose of PPPs
• for details of what records are kept
• for details of how products are being used
• for information to check consistency of use with Good Plant Protection Practice/ Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• to purchase samples for an independent check of the formulation

What happens if the officer finds something wrong:

The officer may take action if they find you are in breach of the plant protection product legislation during the visit. They may also tell you to stop a dangerous activity in your workplace immediately if it relates to duties covered by plant protection product law. If the duties relate to general health and safety, the PEO may refer their concerns to a local health and safety inspector.

Likely actions include:

• offer advice (either verbal or in writing) about improvements members could make to comply with plant protection product law as well as general health and safety law
• write a letter to you for more serious breaches of plant protection law.  The letter will tell you how you have broken the law and what you need to do.
• issue an enforcement notice requiring you to make improvements.  This enforcement notice will advise:
  • what you are doing wrong
  • what changes you need to make
  • how long you have to make the changes
• issue an enforcement notice prohibiting an activity. This notice will order you to stop carrying out an unsafe activity until you have made changes to make the activity safe. 

Cost of visit and advice

Operators will not be charged for the visit, even if they receive advice or receive an enforcement notice for breaking plant protection product laws.

Further information:

HSE website: Pesticide enforcement officer visits