Prepare for an HSE inspection
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says 97% of pesticide enforcement and control visits carried out last year required formal follow-up action or intervention due to non-compliance issues.
Inspections check for compliance with the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable use) Regulations. These are the rules that must be followed to legally use pesticides, including the requirements for training, machinery inspections, record keeping and product storage.
HSE inspectors will also check the correct PPE is available and that it’s being used properly.
Last year’s inspections revealed some significant issues that required remedial action to be taken. These included:
- Inadequate storage facilities – poor bunding, fire protection or overall storage layouts
- Storing expired or unauthorised products
- Incomplete or missing application records
- Lack of sprayer testing
- Failure to meet basic registration rules under Official Controls Regulations.
Where a breach of the law is found an inspector can issue an enforcement notice to the business that details required improvement(s) or order an immediate stop to dangerous work.
Inspection outcomes
Although a review of the publicly available enforcement notices between 2023 and 2026 shows an overall fall in the number of enforcement notices, there is a significant increase in notices issued for breaching the Plant Protection Products regulations.
These mainly relate to inadequate storage facilities and/or practices, particularly inadequate bunding and for storing expired or unauthorised pesticides. Others relate to use of use of unauthorised products, inadequate record keeping and for not testing sprayers. (Figure 1)
Business impact
Once issued, an enforcement notice is published on the HSE website, including the business address and a brief description of the reason for the notice.
Businesses must comply with the issued notice: failing to do so is a criminal offence.
Enforcement notices on the public register may be viewed by those supporting a business, such as farm assurance schemes, insurance companies or banks. This could have a material impact on the farm, because these organisations may review their existing terms of business or even contracts.
Lack of sufficient bunding to collect spills in store is often cited in enforcement notices.
An enforcement notice may have other impacts, on for example, staff recruitment and reputational damage. Additionally, the cost of immediately addressing safety issues, for example with pesticide stores, can be significant.
Co-operation
It is a requirement of the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 that those using pesticides must co-operate with the HSE in regard to enforcement. Firstly, since the 22nd June 2022, those handling, using and storing pesticides must have registered themselves and their store location, while new operations have three months from starting to do so.
Moreover, operators have a responsibility to be prepared for inspection of plant protection product facilities, records and storage.
Check your store before an HSE inspection. Ensure there are no unauthorised products.
Many aspects of pesticide handling and storage are now checked by quality assurance schemes, such as the Red Tractor and Environment Agency compliance inspections.
These various audits and inspections may not, however, check every aspect of pesticide use and/or offer the degree of scrutiny applied by an HSE inspector. Passing an audit or Environment Agency inspection doesn’t mean you will pass an HSE inspection.
Be prepared
To prepare for an HSE inspection you need to be ready to show three key things in relation to safe pesticide use:
- Know what the hazards are
- Have hazard controls in place
- Proof these controls being followed.
In practice this means you will need to:
Gather and organise documentation: Identify and locate all documents associated with the pesticide operation, including product labels/SDS for each pesticide, your COSHH and risk assessments, machinery testing, certification and training evidence and any required pesticide use records. The Code of Practice for Pesticide Products lists the required records.
Check your pesticide store: Check you are storing only authorised products, ensure it is secure at all times, it has adequate bunding and meets HSE standards. A spill kit and fire extinguisher should be on hand.
Confirm best practice: Ensure correct PPE is available and is worn correctly, check mixing procedure follows the label, follow compliant procedures for cleaning equipment and managing washings as well as safe arrangements for empty containers.
Seek advice
Many sources of information and advice are available to help you with compliance. Key sources will include your BASIS qualified agronomist, pesticide product manufacturers and the Code of Practice for Plant Protection Products.
The HSE provides guidance on its website, particularly regarding risk assessments and pesticide store requirements. The NFU also provides information on preparing for an HSE inspection on its website.
