Dealing with pests brings with it a whole range of health and safety issues. There are health and safety risks to the pest controller, or the homeowner if you are dealing with it yourself. Additionally, there can be health and safety risks to the environment or other wildlife, depending on the method of pest control that is being used. So whether you are dealing with rodent pests, insect infestations or nuisance bird management, it is important to be aware of the health and safety risks.
Rodents
The presence of rodents can itself pose a health and safety risk, but their removal also has its risks. If you suspect that you have an infestation of rats, then you need to contact environmental health or a specialist pest controller who has been trained to use rodenticides and is aware of the health and safety risks. The health and safety risks for the removal of mice can include the incorrect use of traps.
Insects
Wasps nests should be removed by specialist professionals. They need to be trained in the use of approved insecticides, and this is controlled by health and safety and environmental legislation. The same applies to infestations of other types of insects such as spiders, bed bugs and cockroaches.
Birds
There are health and safety risks associated with the issue of bird fouling. This can become a problem when the bird population has increased significantly. It is illegal in the UK to use pesticides on any species of bird, so the population has to be controlled rather than eradicated by using a company such as www.vvenv.co.uk to carry out nuisance bird management. Control of some species of birds such as gulls requires a special licence which has strict provisions, so the work done to reduce the population centres mainly around their nesting season rather than elimination as with rodents and insects.
Health and safety in the area of pest control has to be taken seriously, as some of the methods of control, including the use of chemicals, pose a risk to health and safety. Commercial enterprises working in the field of pest control should have conducted thorough risk assessments, but homeowners who intend to tackle pests themselves may want to take advice from environmental health as to the possible health and safety risks.
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