Enforcement and investigation

HSE, local authorities and several other bodies have roles in investigating incidents and carrying out enforcement for the Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) and the Biocidal Products Regulations (BPR). Exactly which body enforces in a particular situation can seem complicated and is explained in more detail below, but broadly speaking local authority trading standards officers enforce the advertisement and sale of pesticides and biocides, while the use of products is usually enforced by either HSE inspectors or local authority environmental health officers, depending where the product has been used.

If you think your health has been affected by a pesticide/biocide, seek medical advice – go to your doctor, or in more serious cases, go to hospital. If your pet/livestock has been affected, seek veterinary advice.

The Chemicals Assessment Schemes Unit of HSE, as the regulatory authority for pesticides and biocides, can assist the enforcing bodies through:

• advice on the legislation itself, and on how individual products are affected by the legislation;
• details of the approval status of individual products and the conditions that have to be met for each approval;
• copies of the approval documents;
• witness statements for use in prosecutions.

Further information on HSE’s approach to enforcement in general is available on our central enforcement page.

Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986

Section 19 of the Food and Environment Protection Act was amended in 1989 by the Pesticides (Fees and Enforcement) Act which gave responsibility for the enforcement of the Control of Pesticides Regulations to several authorities.

An important principle on which the policy for enforcement of pesticide legislation was developed was that businesses should not be burdened with enforcement of related rules by different enforcement officers.

The allocation of enforcement responsibilities reflects the division of responsibility between HSE and local authorities on the enforcement of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act, with additional responsibilities for the agricultural departments for wildlife incidents.

Local authorities (usually trading standards officers) have overall responsibility for the advertisement and sale of pesticides, details of your local trading standard office can be found at the Trading Standards Central website 

The broad division of the remaining enforcement responsibilities is as follows:

If the pesticide is at…	and it involves…	It should be reported to…
Factories, Farms, Forestry sites, Horticultural sites, Construction sites, Local Authority Premises, Railways, Domestic dwellings (work activity), Public amenities (e.g. pavements)	People	HSE (HSE InfoLine Tel: 0845 345 055)
	Environment	Environment Agency (Tel: 0800 807060)
	Wildlife, livestock or pets/companion animals	Agriculture Department / Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (Tel: 0800 321600)
Offices, Animal care premises, Golf courses, Garden centres, Sport stadia, Leisure centres, Parks and Gardens, Zoos and Safari Parks, Camping grounds, Domestic dwellings (non-work activities), Cultural sites (Ancient monuments/Stately  homes), Hotels.	People	Local Authority (details in your local telephone directory)
	Environment	Environment Agency (Tel: 0800 807060)
	Wildlife, livestock or pets/companion animals	Agriculture Department / Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (Tel: 0800 321600)

Further details are available in the free leaflet Reporting incidents of exposure to pesticides and veterinary medicines [451KB]

Biocidal products regulations

Regulation 38 of the Biocidal Products Regulations outlines the allocation of enforcement responsibilities under the regulations. Local Authorities Weights and Measures Authority (usually trading standards officers) have overall responsibility for the advertisement and sale of biocides, including ensuring they are packaged and labelled appropriately, and details of your local trading standards office can be found at the Trading Standards Central website

Enforcement for the use of biocidal products is split between the HSE and local authorities in-line with the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 No 494), with the broad division as follows:

If the biocide is used at…	The enforcement authority is…
Factories, Farms, Forestry sites, Horticultural sites, Construction sites, Local Authority Premises, Railways, Domestic dwellings (work activity), Public amenities (e.g. pavements)	HSE (HSE InfoLine Tel: 0845 345 0055)
Offices, Animal care premises, Golf courses, Garden centres, Sport stadia, Leisure centres, Parks and Gardens, Zoos and Safari Parks, Camping grounds, Domestic dwellings (non-work activities or use by a domestic servant), Cultural sites (Ancient monuments / Stately homes), Hotels.	Local Authority (details in your local telephone directory)