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PA1 PA6 - Who polices it ?

I'm halfway through my pa1,pa6 (pa1 passed and practical is on Wednesday) so hopefully fingers x'ed. 

I was curious after spending £530 !! on this qualification to allow my co to move to bigger and better things, who actually polices the guys and company where they spray, and have no license. 

The answer is actually NO ONE, The Environment agency don't police it, they told me the awarding body (NPTC/City and Guilds) They don't as i called them after. So it makes a bit of a mocker and joke of getting the qualification. 

Don't get me wrong we are not taught the right and wrong way, etc etc. 

Who agrees in what i'm saying. 

Now i'm sure if i sprayed off and killed Mrs Jones prized roses, someone would come down hard on me, who i don't know. 

and yes i thought £530 was over the top as well, especially as we got, no tea and coffee as well. 

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  • That's about what I paid for mine. It's a slight joke that there is no authority on in yet legally we have to have the qualifications
  • PRO Supplier

    If I can suggest a different way to look at it Andrew - like your school exams - its more a confirmation of basic standards. It shows customers (if they ask) that you have : a) invested in proper training, b) Gives you more credibility when advertising to potential customers, adverts, etc. 3) It safeguards the future availability of chemicals we need to do our jobs and the wider world of food supply.....

    It is very easy to get spraying wrong (without knowing it) plus there is a legal requirement for safe and legal application. If you caused a contamination incident in a waterway the EA would certainly look for proper training when investigating and any spraying that causes health issues or complaints by members of public would be followed up by HSE  - who do not mess around!

    • PRO
      This is exactly how I look at it, all good while the going is great, but if something goes wrong, say you contaminate a stream or destroy a colony of bees and someone reports you, then you are in a world of hassle without the tickets, £530 is about right, however I should think the standards of refreshments etc varies on where you do your training, mine was brilliant...
    • PRO
      Not to disagree with you but as a hypothetical:)
      Should the ea or hse come down harder on a person/entity if they have the training yet still manage to pollute a river stream.
      • PRO
        True mate, accidents do happen even with the best practices in place, I would rather know that my butts covered at least from a legal side, I honestly don't know how deep the Ea or HSE would take action against someone, hopefully I'll never find out, but for the sake of a few quid I can sleep at night. I had a friend (a PC plod) caught for speeding a while back, they came down on him pretty hard as they said he should have known better, I guess it could be the same here?
  • PRO

    I think they will/should come down harder on you; perhaps more importantly, you'll be insured.

    I tend to look upon having the licence as a differentiator; it says to customers we are trained, we have legitmate access to professional products and we know how to use them. We'll do the right thing.

    To some extent, the cost, may seem high, but actually its not,  as it does reflect a light touch regulatory wise without ongoing costs. We are being trusted as an industry to self regulate at the moment; if we show we don't derserve that through people abusing the system, then ongoing costs will go up. There will need to be annual licences, records, inspections. All these will cost lots.

    So at the moment, lets play by the rules, and be grateful we are being trusted. It could get bad (expensive / restrictive ) very quickly.

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