HSE Pesticide Enforcement Officer Farm Visits to begin November 2023
16 October 2023
HSE’s Pesticide Enforcement Officers (PEOs) will begin a programme of visits to farms from November 2023.
These visits will be primarily selected from GB crop and arable (plus protected crops) farms of 150 acres and over who are not currently registered under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 (OCRPPPR) and have not been visited by HSE in the last 5 years.
What to Expect
The visit will focus on the management of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) considering both storage and use arrangements. Areas covered will include:
- PPP store including bunding & inventory
- Training for storage and application of PPPs
- Mixing and Disposal of PPPs (including dilutes & washings)
- Dealing with PPP spillages
- PPP application machinery calibration/maintenance/NSTS & records
- Application – selection of PPP type/ Personal Protective Equipment
- Spray Records
- Oversight of contractors and also their records
- Local Environmental Risk Assessment for Pesticides (LERAP) - observation of buffer zones/water courses/Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) & records
The majority of these visits will be carried out by appointment (some visits may be unannounced for efficient use of resources) and are likely to take 2-3 hours.
Where non-compliance is identified, advice will be given in the form of verbal and/or written advice, and in the most serious of cases, enforcement notices may be served to set a specific timescale for remedial action to be taken. There will be no charge for these visits.
A common issue PEO's have come across when inspecting pesticide stores is the storage of unauthorised PPPs. Ahead of the PEO visit, it is recommended that farmers check their stocks of PPPs and dispose of unauthorised PPPs via a licensed hazardous-waste disposal contractor or collection site. Empty clean containers (i.e. triple rinsed) can be disposed of as non-hazardous waste. Ensure that waste transfer notes are retained as proof of safe disposal. The authorisation status of PPPs can be checked using the pesticides database on the HSE website: Pesticides Register of Authorised Plant Protection Products
How to register as a Professional User of PPPs under the Official Control (Plant Protection Product) Regulations 2020
To register as a professional user of PPPs please follow the link on gov.uk:
PEO Role
Further guidance on PEO visits is available on the HSE website:
Pesticide enforcement officer visits - HSE