Technical | PPC91 May 2018
When you’re a BPCA member you can get technical support whenever you need it via our experienced technical team. Here are just a few of the latest questions posed...
SUBJECT: CONSTRUCTION SITES
‘Pest controller’ has been removed from The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) Construction Related Occupation (CRO). What should I do now when working on construction sites?
NATALIE REPLIES: Unfortunately some pest controllers are experiencing problems accessing sites without the CSCS card. The issue is that CSCS have made these changes but this hasn’t filtered down to every site in the UK. Site managers are so used to not allowing anyone on site without a CSCS card that even if a contractor tells them something different it is unlikely they will take heed. The options seem to be:
- Educate your customer on these changes before attending site
- Client obtains a CSCS Visitor Card for their staff (45-minute exam)
- Client gets a CSCS Labourer card for their team (1-day training course and 45-minute exam).
SUBJECT: RATS
What can I do if I have a rat problem in a domestic property which is being amplified by neighbouring properties?
DEE REPLIES: Encourage your customer to speak to their neighbours to try and solve the wider rat issue. Sometimes this will not be enough for a neighbour to act.
The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 (PDPA) states that local authorities (LAs) have to keep their district free of rats and mice (so far as is reasonably practicable). This is a statutory duty of any LA, and they will have enforcement officers assigned to deal with this as and when complaints occur. These officers have the power to investigate and serve notices on landowners and occupiers to control the rodent infestation, whether it be domestic or commercial.
SUBJECT: TRACKING PRODUCTS
Is tracking dust really a good indicator and tracing product?
NATALIE REPLIES: Tracking dust is a great product that can help to trace rodent infestations and discover what is going on. It can show the direction of rodent travel, hard to see harbourage areas and ingress points and how active or large an infestation is.
It can flag up issues that you may not have noticed before. For example, rat ingress to a floor void within a domestic property – due to confined space the floor void could not be entered so tracking dust was applied. The next day fluorescent footprints showed up disappearing behind a hidden soil pipe. The floor was lifted in that place and the ingress point sealed. Job done! Remember, be light handed with fluorescent dust and clear up as much residue as possible.
SUBJECT: SSPRAs
What is a pest risk assessment?
NATALIE REPLIES: The purpose of a Site-Specific Pest Risk Assessment (SSPRA) is to assess the risks of pest activity occurring and to define appropriate monitoring and control measures. The aim is to mitigate the likelihood of commercially-detrimental pest incidents from occurring. In the food industry a proactive, risk-based approach to pest management is essential for protecting your client’s products and brand.
All too often, food companies, pet food manufacturers or food industry-related companies implement basic pest management systems that might look good on paper but fail to provide a full level of protection due to weaknesses in the pest management programme. One of the reasons this can occur is because of an inadequate pest risk-assessment of the site.
We have a great blog article about SSPRAs on the BPCA site: bpca.org.uk/b/sspra
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