Posted By Malky 343 Shaun From what you have said, I think you are approching the issue from the wrong angle. You have a known problem in the bites your staff are suffering. What mitigating action have you taken. As heaven forbid an individual get's a bite that results in seriouse illness you may find yourself up the creek without a paddle. Speaking with experience as I have staff working in locations throughout the world. We had to adopt the advice of our occupational health advisors relating to inoculations, and a pest control regiem. In answer to your origional point if you do not record the bite having happened, how are you going to esstablish info on the nature and number of bites Hope this has been of help

Posted By Chris Packham Definitely need recording, if only because there could be a health effect subsequently. You would need to record also the species of insect so that in the event that medical treatment is required the medics know what they are dealing with. However, your posting suggests that this is a frequent occurrence. If so, what has been done by way of prevention? Accepting that you may not be able to prevent all such occurrences, in the event of damage to health you would need to be able to show that you had taken all practicable precautions. However, without more information on the nature of the products imported, packaging, method of handling, etc. it is not possible to comment on what measures might be taken. Chris

Posted By Bob Thompson CMIOSH If it is thought to be that foreseeable isnt COSHH applicable?

Posted By Chris Packham I have to disagree with the last posting. Just recently a highly poisonous spider was found in a consignment arriving in a Midlands plant. A bite from this could have had serious consequences. The variety of species is important in assessing the potential for damage to health and for those who might subsequently have to provide the treatment. I have worked in places in the world where this was considered essential, so this is not a hypothetical question. And many in Africa and South America do die each year from insect bites! Whilst I am all for simplicity, there is always a risk that oversimplification can result in workers being placed at risk. In my particular field (skin exposure) I frequently encounter those who believe that this is a simple matter. Regrettably the result is that I have been called in to investigate a skin problem that could have easily been avoided had those involved recognised the complexity and taken the appropriate action. Simplicity where it is appropriate, but not for its own sake. Chris

Posted By Rob T So don't mention it then Andrew! it's irrelevant if you've not got the allergy! Chris are you really expecting this guy to give out copies of manuals naming all known species of insect and then chase around the little mossie to see if it's Aedes or Anopheles? If it looks like a big hairy spider, and it moves like a big hairy spider - it's probably a big hairy spider! If it's got a red hour glass on it's back - leg it, but other than that this is just scaremongering. What on earth do you give to your people working in West Africa? You could of course just spray the area with DDT which is harmless outside a confined space!

Posted By Chris Packham I wasn't suggesting that everyone should become a botanist! However, suppose someone develops an anaphylactic reaction as a result of a bite and is rushed to hospital with severe (potentially life threatening) breathing problems. (And yes, this has happened!) What do you then tell the A&E? Big hairy spider would not be much help in determining what the poison might be. In actual fact, what I was really trying to emphasize in my original posting was that what the employer should be doing is attempting to ensure that the above did not happen. Without knowing details of the operation specific measures cannot be suggested, but I have encountered a similar situation elsewhere and we were successful in minimising the exposures. Chris

Posted By Chris Packham Andy On a technical point, in order to develop sensitisation, which is the precursor to an allergy, you have to have had exposure to the causative substance. However, sensitisation does not show any symptoms, so you would not know that you were sensitised. It is on the subsequence exposure that you may respond with an allergic/anaphylactic reaction. Note the word "may". It is possible to be sensitised but not allergic. Chris