Fine For Pesticide Misuse

At Sheffield Magistrates Court on 12th March 2008 Mr John Allison pleaded guilty to four offences of not taking all reasonable precautions in using an insecticide containing bendiocarb. He was fined £200 for each offence and a further £200 towards costs.

Following an investigation into the deaths of thousands of honey bees, carried out under the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) by Defra and Natural England Mr Allison was charged that he:

• had failed to take all reasonable precautions to protect the health of human beings, creatures and plants;
• was not competent in the use of the product;
• had not had the necessary training or instruction; and
• had failed to use the required safety clothing and eye protection.

The case was investigated under the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS) following the discovery of thousands of dead bees by a beekeeper. Analysis of the dead bees showed they had died from exposure to bendiocarb.

Mr Allison had used a bendiocarb containing insecticide 'Ficam D' to kill feral bees nesting in a tree. However Mr Allison had not notified local beekeepers about the application prior to treatment and bees belonging to local beekeepers had accessed the treated area and had died.

The court was told that the manner of the operation was "a good example of how not to carry out a pest control treatment". In particular Mr Allison, had at the time had no training, had not carried out a risk assessment, did not wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and used the wrong application method during windy conditions. As a consequence the product was blown into the surrounding area and all over Mr Allison.

It is the legal duty of anyone using pesticides in the course of their business to be trained in the safe use, including preventing risks of non-target creatures, and preventing exposure of humans.

Therefore, it is important to utilise the services of a professional pest control company when attempting to eradicate a specific localised population of insects through the use of pesticides.

Qualified technicians operating within the pest control industry have been trained in the use of pest control products and know which ones to use in specific circumstances. Of course, when hiring the services of a pest control company, you should always check that they have gained the appropriate certification from either the BPCA or the NPTC.