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Company and one of its directors fined for the unsafe storage of unauthorised biocidal products

A pest control company and one of its directors have been sentenced for the unsafe storage of unauthorised biocidal products and phostoxin (aluminium phosphide).

Ipswich Crown Court heard how Rodent Service (East Anglia) Limited stored non-approved biocides and pesticides including phostoxin (used for the control of pests and vermin) at its premises at Cooke Road, Lowestoft.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) arising from a report provided by Natural England into the alleged secondary poisoning of a tawny owl by a rodenticide (a biocidal compound), found various biocidal compounds which were not authorised for use improperly stored at the premises. In addition, part used canisters of phostoxin (a compound that reacts with moisture in the atmosphere or the soil to produce phosphine, a poisonous gas, used to control rabbits within their burrows) were found stored inside a filing cabinet within the workplace.

Rodent Service (East Anglia) Limited of Cooke Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk pleaded guilty to breaching Sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 The company has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000. The company was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.

Donald Eric Martin, Director of Rodent Service (East Anglia) Limited also pleaded guilty of an offence of neglect by virtue of S37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. He was sentenced to a six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay costs of £1000 and a victim surcharge of £115.00.

Speaking after sentencing HSE Principal Inspector Paul Carter commented: “This situation could so easily have been avoided by the company disposing of those biocidal and similar high-risk compounds not authorised for storage and use and ensuring that only sealed containers of phostoxin were kept on site stored safely in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Companies should be aware that HSE will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those that fall below the required standards.”

Notes to Editors:

  1. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. gov.uk[1][1]
  2. More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: legislation.gov.uk[2 [2]]
  3. HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk[3]

Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases.

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HSE

Green Party writes to Michael Gove calling for more ambitious policy on plastics

21 December 2017

Deputy Leader of the Green Party Amelia Womack has today written to the Environment Secretary Michael Gove urging him to be much more ambitious in his pledge to reduce plastic waste.

Plastic hit the headlines when the BBC show Blue Planet II exposed the amount of waste that has entered our oceans. In the last few weeks Michael Gove has been unveiling the government’s plan to reduce plastic waste including consulting on a scheme for cutting single use plastics and creating bottle return schemes.

But the Green Party says that these “piecemeal” changes do not go nearly far enough and has urged the Environment Secretary to use the public concern created by Blue Planet to introduce a much more wide-ranging set of policies.

In her letter to Mr Gove, Womack, who recently tried living plastic free for a week [1], says [2]:

“To fix a problem as systemic as this [plastic waste] requires an holistic approach – one that I urge you to adopt.

“We need to design out waste from the very start of the consumer chain. That means ending the production of single-use plastics while providing the infrastructure necessary to enable large corporations and individuals to recycle close to 100% of the items they use.

“Second, we need to invest in alternatives to plastic. There is a slowly rising network of zero-waste shops across the UK and companies like Splosh and Lush create products designed to have a limited or no impact on the environment. Through government investment, grants, and rewards we can upscale the use of these products so that they are available to everyone and every business.

“Third, we need to discourage bad behaviour. The tax on plastic bags has already brought enormous benefits: since the tax was introduced in England, the use of plastic bags has reduced 85%. That same model should be applied to plastic bottles, single use plastics, and microplastics.”

Notes

[1] https://theecologist.org/2017/dec/19/my-week-without-plastic-ameliawomack 

[2]

Full text of letter below:

Dear Michael,

I have been greatly heartened by your increased interest in and desire to do something about the toll that plastic is having on our environment.

I do worry, however, that at present your goals are not ambitious enough.

The last few months have represented an awakening in the nation’s consciousness about the problems caused by plastic to our ecosystem: Blue Planet has given a very visual representation to an issue long overlooked. If ever there was an opportunity to be bold about how we tackle the problem, it is now.

Recently I tried going plastic free for a single week. I was amazed at the extent to which plastic has infected our lives. It’s in our tea bags. It covers nearly any grocery item we might buy. Make-up is impossible to buy without plastic. Having lived for a week without it, I can now fully understand why plastic litters our countryside and infects our oceans.

To fix a problem as systemic as this requires an holistic approach – one that I urge you to adopt.

Reducing plastic and waste will only be achieved through a strategy devised and implemented by government and industry. We need to design out waste from the very start of the consumer chain. That means ending the production of single-use plastics while providing the infrastructure necessary to enable large corporations and individuals to recycle close to 100% of the items they use.

Second, we need to invest in alternatives to plastic. There is a slowly rising network of zero-waste shops across the UK and companies like Splosh and Lush create products designed to have a limited or no impact on the environment. Through government investment, grants, and rewards we can upscale the use of these products so that they are available to everyone and every business.

Third, we need to discourage bad behaviour. The tax on plastic bags has already brought enormous benefits: since the tax was introduced in England, the use of plastic bags has reduced 85%. That same model should be applied to plastic bottles, single use plastics, and microplastics.

I would welcome the opportunity to share with you in person my experiences of living without plastic for a week or to talk about the policies we desperately need to preserve our blue planet.

Yours sincerely,

Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

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Green Party •

Empty words on trade transparency from Fox – Barry Gardiner

Barry Gardiner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade, commenting on the revelation that the Department for International Trade has signed agreements with the United States government which seek to block transparency in UK-US trade talks, said:

 

“These released letters show that Liam Fox’s promises to provide maximum transparency are empty words devoid of any meaning.

 

“He promises the country that a future trade deal with the US will not allow reductions in our standards yet at the same time he promises the Americans that documents pertaining to such a deal will be confidential, even where the guidelines for the US-UK trade working group do not require such confidentiality.

 

“What is the Secretary of State trying to hide from the public?

 

“The threat of deregulation in the context of a trade deal with the US is a very real one as we saw with the chlorine-washed chicken scandal. Labour is calling for transparency and enhanced parliamentary scrutiny of any future trade deals. Trade agreements are not just about tariffs and barriers to trade, they are about the standards, rules and regulation that determine what kind of society we live in.”

 

Ends

 

The letters are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arrangement-for-exchanging-information-during-the-uk-us-trade-and-investment-working-group  

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Labour •

Record UK manufacturing orders

The economic good news keeps flowing. The November CBI survey showed orders for manufacturing in the UK higher than any time since 1988 under Margaret Thatcher.  Retail sales continued to rise in real terms despite all the gloomy forecasts. Large sums have been invested in UK property by overseas investors who believe in it more than UK valuers.

Yesterday we were told that the UK plans to maintain open access for EU businesses coming to the UK under current rules, whether we leave with or without a deal. It makes sense to stress we do not want to put up new barriers. Such a statement if one comes from official sources needs to complement a direct question to the EU negotiators. Given our wish to have no new barriers, will the EU agree to the same? Or if they do want barriers, will they get on  and specify what barriers they intend to place so business can progress  and adjust accordingly? Any such barriers will of course need to be compliant with World Trade rules and international commercial law.

If the EU does decide on barriers I trust the UK government will see that as good reason to spare us paying any so called divorce settlement. From here there should be upside for us, and downside for the Commission if they continue to be unhelpful.

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John Redwood MP •