Guidance on the restrictions relating to research under CoPR
Research is required to:
- understand how pesticide products are used, eg where they are used, how many people use them, what happens to them after use;
- understand how chemicals interact with humans and the environment, eg how long it takes for a liquid to be absorbed by the skin, how long an aerosol spray remains in the air;
- research information is used to develop exposure scenarios for risk assessment, ie to understand how much of a product humans and the environment are going to come into contact with. The risk assessment then considers whether this amount of contact has the potential to do harm;
Research continued
Some examples of the areas of research that HSE has been involved in previously have included;
- carrying out assessment of the risks to sheep dippers of suffering short-term, ill-health effects associated with organophosphates (OPs);
- investigations to develop and apply new instrumental techniques for the assessment of risks from toxic and harmful substances in the workplace;
- work carried out in order to measure the effectiveness of labelling pesticides;
- establishing the extent of usage of antifouling products (AFPs) in freshwaters in order to find out whether an additional risk assessment and/or monitoring would be necessary.
It is worth considering HSE’s previously commissioned research before embarking upon any independent research.
This guidance is to help industry comply with the requirements of the Control of Pesticides Regulations (CoPR). It;
- has no legal standing;
- does not absolve industry of any additional responsibilities they may have under other legislation.
Ministers have agreed that experimental permits can be granted when a company wishes to use a substance, preparation or organism for the purpose of research/development or in experimental trials.
There are two types of experimental permits (EPs), details of which can be found at the links below;
In addition to these two types of EP it is also possible to carry out research on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The provisions of the legislation controlling activities with such organisms must be complied with. The issuing of an experimental permit under the legislation does not free the holder from other duties concerning work with GMOs.
There are two sets of legislation, one covering contained use (eg work in laboratories and similar buildings) and other covering deliberate release into the environment. Experimental work with pesticides, which consists of or contain GMOs could fall under either set of legislation. For contained use all premises must be notified to HSE (at the address below) from where further advice about the legislation can be obtained. In certain cases notification to HSE and formal consent may be required before work can proceed.
Address for HSE contact on GMOs:
The Intervention TeamHID Specialised Industries SI4
Health and Safety Executive
Biological Agents Unit
Bld 1.2 Redgrave Court,
Merton Road,
Bootle,
Merseyside L20 7HS
Tel: 0151 951 3779
Email: germs.gmos@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Address for DEFRA contact on GMOs:
GM Team
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Area 4D Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR
Telephone (DEFRA): 08459 33 55 77
email: gm@defra.gsi.gov.uk
Ethics Committee
Any research that has been carried out by HSE for CoPR has been done so using the practices and principles of the Ethics Committee. This is an approach adopted by HSE and is not a requirement for other individuals who are carrying out research, although, a similar approach would be encouraged.