HSE Pesticide Enforcement Inspections

There are now a large number of new pesticide enforcement officers carrying out inspections to ensure that pesticide users are complying with the law, and the number of officers is ever growing. This is now one of the largest departments within HSE.

If your business uses plant protection products in Great Britain in a professional capacity, you were legally required to appear on a central register by June 22nd, 2022. This applies to all organisations whatever your size or business structure. The requirement is governed by the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 (OCR) and failure to register is breaking the law. 

As was pointed out at the Amenity Forum Conference, Enforcement officers will likely be targeting companies they think should be on the register, which should pretty much include every golf course, school, council, sports facility or other premises with outdoor space to manage in the country. Many companies have been falling foul of various legislation concerning storage, PPE, training, unlicenced or incorrectly labelled products, stock management, spraying in the wrong conditions and many other points. 

Of course there is a simple way around the difficulties of complying with all the pesticide regulations...

Don't use pesticides! 

If you would rather not have to deal with pesticide enforcement officers, Kersten provide a compliment of equipment that can help you manage your surfaces and keep the weeds under control without the need for plant protection products. 

If you want to start learning about Integrated Weed Management, here is a great link to get you started;

https://kerstenuk.com/integrated-weed-management-for-amenity

If you don't want to learn about Integrated weed management, then you had better make sure you are familiar with this page on the HSE website.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pesticides/enforcement/peo-visit.htm