Reporting incidents of exposure to pesticides and...

What to do if you think

people, animals or the

environment have

been harmed by

exposure to pesticides

or veterinary medicines

Reporting

incidents of

exposure to

pesticides

and

veterinary

medicines

2

If you think you have been harmed by exposure to pesticides or

veterinary medicines you ought to report it. Also, if you know

of a case in which other people, animals or the environment have

been harmed you ought to report it, unless someone else has already

done so. It is important to report the incident as quickly as possible.

This leaflet tells you what to do and what happens after you

have made a report. A form at the back of the leaflet sets out

the key information you are asked to give. Pages 10-13 at the end of

the leaflet give you more details about the relevant authorities,

schemes and committees which deal with

reports. But you don't need to read those

pages to find out how to report an

incident. Don't be put off reporting an

incident if you don't understand some

of the terms used in this leaflet -

the relevant authority will know

what to do.

Reporting incidents of exposure to pesticides and veterinary medicines

3

proofing materials, which arenot pesticides);

● pests such as rats, mice,cockroaches or ants;

● grain stores; and

● boat hulls.

Veterinary medicines

Exposure can occur during thetreatment of animals (including fishon fish farms) with veterinarymedicines such as:

● vaccines;

● antibiotics;

● tick or flea control products; and

● sheep dips.

Exposure to pesticides and veterinarymedicines may also arise as a result of:

● pesticide spray drifting beyond afield boundary;

● deliberate or accidentalpoisoning of wild animals, birdsof prey or pets;

● emptying (or improper disposalof) residues of used sheep dipfrom dip-baths;

● returning to treated premisesbefore the end of a suitableexclusion period;

● spillage or leakage;

● contamination of waterways

What shouldI report?

Cases which you ought to reportcan happen in different ways;either from:a one-off exposure to a large

amount of a pesticide or veter-

inary medicine. This usually has an

immediate effect on the health of

people or animals or on the

environment, although the effects

might also be delayed; or

from longer-term exposure to low

levels of such chemicals. This is

more likely to cause delayed and

less clear-cut symptoms of ill health.

It is important to report both types ofcases. Here are some examples ofhow they might arise:

Pesticides

(eg weedkillers, mould killers, fly spraysor other insecticides, products forprotecting wood from insect or fungalattack, gases used to fumigate foodstorage areas, some special paints usedto prevent fouling of boat hulls, etc.)

Exposure can occur during thetreatment of:

● crops or plants;

● wood (but excluding damp


4

which are also used forrecreation; and

● dumped containers.

If you are an employer, self-employed or someone in control ofpremises you are required by theReporting of Injuries, Diseases andDangerous Occurrences Regulations(RIDDOR) to report certain work-related incidents to the Health andSafety Executive (HSE) or localauthority (LA).These include fatalinjury, acute illness or loss ofconsciousness resulting fromabsorption of a substance, and casesof phosphorus (including organo-phosphorus) poisonings diagnosedby a doctor. Further advice isavailable from your LA or HSEregional office, and in HSE’s guidancebooklet L73 A guide to The Reportingof Injuries, Diseases and DangerousOccurrences Regulations 1995.

If you are reporting a pesticide orveterinary medicine incident whichshould also be reported underRIDDOR, you may wish to checkwith the relevant person that theyhave done so.

Why should I make a report?

Reporting cases of ill health willhelp the relevant authorities to beaware of any unforeseen harmfuleffects, take enforcement actionwhere appropriate and preventfurther incidents. Such informationmay also lead to the conditions ofapproval for a product beingamended, or the product beingwithdrawn from the market. Beforepesticides and veterinary medicinescan be placed on the market theymust be approved by ministers. Inorder to be approved, they mustsatisfy strict conditions.This aims toensure that, if used according to themanufacturers' instructions and fortheir intended purpose, they shouldnot harm people, animals or theenvironment.You can find moredetails on pages 10-13.

5

So what should I do?

First, see a doctor

If you think your health has beenaffected, seek medical adviceimmediately. Go to your doctor or,in more serious cases, go tohospital.Tell them that you mayhave been exposed to pesticides orveterinary medicines.

If your animal has been harmed youshould seek veterinary adviceimmediately.

If possible, take the product label ordata sheet when you go to yourdoctor, the hospital or the vet.

…then make a report

Make a note as soon as possible ofthe incident details:

● When, where and how did theexposure happen?

● What were you exposed to?

● How long did the exposure last?

● Were there any extremeweather conditions at the time(for example high winds, or avery hot or cold day).

The quickest way of first reportingthe incident is by telephone.


Remember - the sooner youreport an incident:

● the more likely it is that some-thing can be done about it; and

● the more likely that it can beprevented from happening again.

You may report an incident onbehalf of someone else if ill healthprevents them from making thereport.As there are severaldifferent authorities it can bedifficult to know who to report to.The table 'Who should I report to?'(see pages 8 and 9) should help youdecide. If you want to follow theprogress of your report, you maywish to make a note of the date,time and office at which you madeyour report. If you are in doubt

about which authority you should

make a report to, contact your local

HSE office. You will find the address

and telephone number in the phone

book, or you can call the HSE

InfoLine on 0541 545 500, from

where your call can be put through

to the appropriate HSE office.

If the incident involves human

exposure to pesticides you maywish to photocopy and completethe reporting form on pages 14-15.Although it is not essential to doso, using the reporting form will

6

help you to give the informationneeded by the relevant authority.You should then pass on theinformation by telephone to eitheryour local HSE office or the LA(addresses and phone numbers arein your local telephone directory).You may then wish to send in theform to the address shown toconfirm your telephone call.You canalso send in a form if you areunable to or prefer not to use the telephone.

If you suspect that wildlife or pets

have been poisoned by pesticides

you can report cases via theWildlife Incident InvestigationScheme (Freephone 0800 321 600).The Scottish Agricultural ScienceAgency handles calls made inScotland to the Freephone number.Alternatively, you can report directto the local office of the Farmingand Rural Conservation Agency (inEngland and Wales only).

If you think that people or animals

have suffered an adverse reaction

following exposure to veterinary

medicines you can report it bycompleting the Veterinary Medicines Directorate's reporting form MLA 252A.This form can be obtained from the Veterinary Medicines Directorate,Veterinary Practices,Veterinary InvestigationCentres,Animal Health Offices and HSE regional offices.

If you think the environment has

been polluted contact theEnvironment Agency (or inScotland, the Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency) on their 24-hour emergency hotline number:Freephone 0800 80 70 60.


7

What informationdo I need to give?

Information in three main areas willhelp the relevant authority.Thisinformation is listed on the reportingform in this leaflet. If you make yourreport by telephone, it will help ifyou have to hand a copy of thereporting form when you phone.Youwill need the following details:

Product details

Get all the information you canabout the product involved fromthe product label, the person usingthe product or the manufacturer. It

is especially important to get the

name of the manufacturer, the

product name and active

ingredients, and the registration

number (if the product has one) -

which will appear on the label with

the prefix 'HSE' or 'MAFF' for

pesticides and 'VM' or 'PL' for

veterinary medicines. If possible,have the actual product label orsafety data sheet available.


Circumstances ofexposure

It is also important to give details ofwhere, when and how the exposurehappened and who was exposed.Make a note of any extremeweather conditions that younoticed at the time of theexposure. Some examples of howexposure can happen are in thesection 'What should I report?' atthe front of this leaflet.

Effects of exposure

You should list all those peopleinvolved and give details of howtheir health has suffered as a resultof exposure. If you telephone, youwill only need to give a broadindication of the health effects.

Don't worry if you do not have allthis information to hand - youshould still report the incident. Itmay be useful for any subsequentinvestigation if you can providephotographs of the incident siteand the names and addresses ofany witnesses to the incident.


8

Who shouldI report to?

If the incident is at…

FactoriesFarmsForestry sitesHorticulture sitesBuilding sitesRailwaysDomestic dwellings1

(except for amateur use)Public amenities

(such as pavements and paths)

Examples include:OfficesAnimal Care premisesGolf CoursesGarden CentresSport and Games StadiaLeisure CentresParks and GardensZoos and Safari ParksDomestic dwellings

(amateur use only)

All locations

and it involves…

People

Environment

Wildlife, livestock or pets2

People

Environment

Wildlife, livestock or pets

People

Treated animals

Environment

Wildlife

it should bereported to…

HSE

Environment Agency3

(EA) and HSE

Agriculture Department4

Local Authority5 (LA)

EA3


Veterinary MedicinesDirectorate (VMD), andHSE or LA

VMD

EA3 and VMD


and VMD


9

who can be contacted at…

HSE Regional offices listed in your local phonebook, or viathe HSE InfoLine on 0541 545 500

The EA3 24-hour hotline number on Freephone 0800 80 70 60

Agriculture Department addresses and telephone numbersare in your local phone book. Incidents involving poisoning bypesticides of wildlife or pets can be reported to the WildlifeIncident Investigation Scheme on Freephone 0800 321 600

Local Authority addresses and telephone numbers are inyour local phone book under ‘Environmental Health’

The EA3 24-hour hotline number on Freephone 0800 80 70 60

Agriculture Department addresses and telephone numbersare in your local phone book. Incidents involving poisoning bypesticides of wildlife or pets can be reported to the WildlifeIncident Investigation Scheme on Freephone 0800 321 600

Veterinary Medicines Directorate, FREEPOST KT4503,Woodham Lane, New Haw,Addlestone,SURREY KT15 3BRTel: 01932 338427

EA3 - 24-hour hotline on Freephone 0800 80 70 60

Agriculture Department addresses and phone numbers arein your local phone book

1 Only when people areemployed to carry out thework; other incidents involvingpesticides for amateur use indomestic premises should bereported to the Environ-mental Health Department ofthe Local Authority.

2 Any incident involvinganimals may become a matterfor HSE, although this is lesslikely for wild animals.

3 In England and Wales, theEnvironment Agency. In Scotland,the Scottish EnvironmentProtection Agency (SEPA).

4 The Farming and RuralConservation Agency (part ofthe Ministry of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food) in Englandand Wales, or the ScottishOffice Agriculture Environmentand Fisheries Department asappropriate.

5 Except where the workhas been carried out by theLocal Authority, in which caseincidents should be reportedto HSE.

Pesticideincidents

VeterinaryMedicineincidents

10

You don't need to read

this section to know how

to make a report of

an incident.

This information is included

for anyone wanting to

know more about the

processes involved after a

report is received by the

relevant authority.

What happensnow?

Incidents involvingpeople's health

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)inspectors will normally investigateall pesticide and veterinary medicinecomplaints involving alleged illhealth where these occur in placessuch as factories and farms (aslisted in the table). Environmentalcomplaints and those not involvingill health may also be investigated.Depending on the outcome of aninvestigation, an inspector may:

● give verbal or written advice;

● issue a notice; or,

● if appropriate, and enoughevidence can be obtained,consider a prosecution.

Local Authority (LA) inspectors areresponsible for investigatingincidents at other places, (fromoffices to zoos and safari parks -see table) as well as those involvingthe domestic use of amateurpesticides.They have the samepowers as HSE inspectors.


11

Exposureinvolving pesticides

Once an investigation is complete,HSE and LA inspectors send detailsof reported cases to the Pesticide

Incident Appraisal Panel (PIAP).Thisscheme, which covers adversereactions to both agricultural andnon-agricultural pesticides, isorganised by HSE.The panel's roleis to examine information compiledfrom investigations by HSE and LAsinto cases of illness alleged to berelated to pesticides. PIAP providesan overview of these cases in orderto inform the pesticide approvalsprocess described in the section'Why should I make a report?'.It does not act as an arbiter inindividual cases.

Exposure involvingveterinary medicines

The Veterinary Medicines

Directorate (VMD), an ExecutiveAgency of the Ministry ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Food(MAFF), is responsible forsurveillance of suspected adversereactions to veterinary medicines.Its aim is to safeguard public health,animal health and the environmentand promote animal welfare byensuring the safety, quality andefficacy of all aspects of veterinarymedicines in the UK.VMD operatesthe Suspected Adverse Reactions

Surveillance Scheme (SARSS), whichincludes the monitoring ofSuspected Adverse Reactions

(SARs) in humans. Reports on formMLA 252A of adverse reactions toveterinary medicines are submittedto the Veterinary Products

Committee (VPC). Its independentsubcommittee, the Appraisal Panel,evaluates all human SARs to identify any trends or signs ofemerging problems.


12

Incidents involvingtreated animals,including livestock

Incidents involving veterinarymedicinal treatments, reported onform MLA 252A to the VMD'sSARSS (see previous paragraph),are submitted to the VPC.This

information is used in reviewingproduct approvals.

Incidents involvingwildlife or pets

The Farming and Rural Conservation

Agency (FRCA) operates the Wildlife

Incident Investigation Scheme

(WIIS) on behalf of the Ministry ofAgriculture, Fisheries and Food(MAFF).This scheme monitors theimpact of agricultural pesticides onwildlife and pets. Once the FRCAhas accepted a case forinvestigation, its inspectors maymake a field visit. If necessary,animal carcasses are sent to a localVeterinary Investigation Centre forpost-mortem examination. Samplesare then analysed for pesticideresidues. If enough evidence isobtained of an offence, thenprosecution action can be taken.

In Scotland the Scottish Agricultural

Science Agency carries out thelaboratory investigations. Staff of theScottish Office Agriculture,

Environment and Fisheries Department

(SOAEFD) conduct field investigationswhere poisoning has been confirmed.They also liaise with the police andanimal welfare organisations.

Details of incidents reported to theVMD on form MLA 252A will bepassed to the VPC for use whenreviewing product approvals.


13

Incidents involving theenvironment

In England and Wales, theEnvironment Agency (EA) isresponsible for preventing thepollution of watercourses. EAinspectors will investigate reportedcases of water pollution caused byeither pesticides or veterinarymedicines and will take the necessaryenforcement action.This may result inthe prosecution of anyone deliberatelyor negligently causing water pollution.The EA is also responsible forpreventing the contamination ofland, and has powers to prosecuteanyone deliberately or negligentlycontaminating land. All those whowant to dispose of waste pesticidesor sheep dips into or onto land willneed to apply to the EA forauthorisation to do this.Theregulations also give EA the powerto control activities, such as sheepdipping, which may pose a threat togroundwater.

In Scotland, the Scottish

Environment Protection Agency

(SEPA) has a similar role.

Details of incidents reported to theVMD will be referred to the VPCfor consideration when productapprovals are reviewed.

Committees

Advisory Committee onPesticides (ACP)This independent committee wasset up to give ministers advice onany matters relating to the controlof pests. Ministers are required toconsult the ACP as to approvals ofpesticides which they areconsidering giving, revoking orsuspending; and on the conditionsattached to those approvals. Ingiving its advice, the ACP takes intoaccount reported incidents of illhealth and environmental damage.HSE gives the ACP information onreported ill health in its PesticidesAnnual Report which also hasdetails of other reported incidentsthat do not involve ill health.

Veterinary ProductsCommittee (VPC)The independent VPC gives adviceto ministers about the safety, qualityand efficacy of veterinary medicines.To enable it to do this, it receivesinformation from the SARSS andpromotes the collection of otherinformation relating to suspectedadverse reactions.


Notification to HSE or Local Authority (LA) of pesticideincidents

• It is important that incidents are reported as soon as possible. Please telephone the relevant enforcementauthority using this form as a guide to the information you will be asked to give. Reporting by telephone willensure that any investigation will not be delayed, although not all incidents will be successfully investigated.

• You should use this form to tell HSE or the LA about a pesticide incident for which they are the relevantauthority as described in the table in this leaflet. You can also use it to report an incident on behalf ofsomeone else. Do not use it to tell any other relevant authority about an incident - they will have their own reporting systems.

Have you (or has anyone else) already reported this incident? Yes No

If Yes, on what date and to whom did you report it?

Confidentiality

Does anyone involved wish to have their name withheld in any subsequent investigation?

Yes No

If Yes, please list name(s)

(NB - it may not be possible to investigate the incident fully, or at all, if the relevant authority does not have permission todisclose this information. You should also be aware that, with some incidents, the pesticide user may be able to identify whohas made the complaint from the description of the circumstances. If this concerns you, please ask to speak to an inspector.)

Details of people involved

Name

Address

Age Telephone number

If this incident involved anyone else, please list below (where known) their names, addresses, ages andtelephone numbers:

Details of the incident

1 Product details - write down here the manufacturer’s name, the product name and number (you can getthese from the container label, the person using the product or the manufacturer)

2 Circumstances of exposure - who was using the product (if known), when and where was it beingused (be as precise as possible about the date/time/location) and how did the exposure happen? (seeleaflet under ‘What should I report?’ for some examples of how exposure can happen). Were there anyextreme weather conditions that you noticed at the time of the exposure?

3 Effects of exposure - describe any ill-health effects which you believe you or others involved havehad as a result of being exposed

Have you or others involved been to a doctor or a hospital for treatment for these ill-health effects?

Yes No

If No, you are advised to see a doctor as soon as possible.

Has a doctor confirmed that the ill-health is associated with exposure to a pesticide?

Yes No Possible

Now send this form to your nearest office of HSE or, if appropriate to the relevant LA EnvironmentalHealth Department - addresses and telephone numbers are in the local telephone directory.


Further information

This leaflet is produced by HSE.HSE priced and free publications areavailable by mail order from:

HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury,Suffolk CO10 6FSTel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995

HSE priced publications are also availablefrom good booksellers.

For other enquiries ring HSE’s InfoLineTel: 0541 545500, or write to HSE’sInformation Centre, Broad Lane, SheffieldS3 7HQ.

HSE home page on the World Wide Web:http://www.open.gov.uk/hse/hsehome.htm

This leaflet contains notes on goodpractice which are not compulsorybut which you may find helpful inconsidering what you need to do.

This publication may be freely reproduced,except for advertising, endorsement orcommercial purposes.The information itcontains is current at 2/99. Pleaseacknowledge the source as HSE

Printed and published by the Health and Safety Executive

INDG141(rev1) 2/99 C1000

Reporting incidents of exposure to pesticides and...

Documents

Transcript of Reporting incidents of exposure to pesticides and...