In light of the Government not explicitly adding pest management to the list of crucial sectors in their guidance, BPCA has produced a letter template for members to help ensure their employees' children can continue to go to school.
Today (20 March 2020), the UK Government released their Guidance for schools, colleges and local authorities on maintaining educational provision.
It is a list of key workers that will be allowed to continue to send their children to school during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite our efforts to influence the decision, pest management is not explicitly written on the list of key workers.
However, there are numerous other critical sectors and key workers that pest management professionally protects, including:
- Health and social care
- Education and childcare
- Key public services
- Local and national Government
- Food and necessary goods
- Public safety
- Transport
- Utilities, communication and financial services.
Note: guidance for Scottish school seems less prescriptive about who is a key worker, describing them as “posts which ensure that essential services can be delivered and cover task within the local community which support the vulnerable and aid community resilience.”
BPCA deems any pest management professional involved in the provision of pest management services to any of the above sites as critical for the ongoing provision of these services.
As such, we deem the operatives and support staff as key workers.
We have developed a template letter for members to customise and give to their staff with school-age children.
This has been sent by email and is available to download in the BPCA Member Documents Area (login required).
Member's critical employees will then, in turn, give the letter to the headmaster of their child's school or local authority, who ultimately must interpret the Government's list of key workers.
Pest management is a critical sector recognised by Governments in France, Spain, Italy and the USA.
BPCA Chief Exec, Ian Andrew, said:
"We're disappointed the UK Government hasn't explicitly listed pest management professionals as key workers as we asked.
"However, we believe there is enough leeway in the list to allow our members' workforces' to protect the nation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We will continue to lobby the Government to have pest management professionals explicitly included on the list".
Non-member pest management companies who want to continue to send their children to school should write similar letters for their employees, encouraging schools and local authorities to accept their employee's children.