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As well as duties under COSHH, the use of pesticides is also covered by the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.

HSE inspectors investigated 204 complaints about pesticide use between March 1996 and March 1997. Compared with the previous year, although the number of complaints rose by 21%, prosecutions were down 8% to 11, and enforcement notices down 35% to 185.

The figures are for enforcement under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 or the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986, not COSHH. They also exclude sheep-dip, which is classified as a veterinary medicine (Pesticide incidents report 1996/97, HSE 1997, INTS03 9/97 C2).

In June 1998, after a two year feasibility study, the HSE announced that it would be using the database of licensed users of agricultural pesticides run by the National Proficiency Tests Council (NPTC) to study the health effects of pesticides. The feasibility study also found that 15% of users thought they had been made ill, or had an existing illness made worse, by exposure to pesticides at work. The most common symptoms were headaches.

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