Posted By Tracey C Hello i wonder if somebody could help me with this one. There is some building work being carried out near our offices which has caused us to have sightings of rats in our bin store areas. We have purchased some rat killer boxes ready to use pre-baited for home and garden use. They seem to have done the trick but what my question is: Can we purchase these on regular intervals or do we have to contact a pest control company to look after our business on a yearly basis. I have looked on the HSE website and the only help i can find is the guidance MISC 515 Urban rodent control and the safe use of rodenticides by professional users. Am i right in thinking that we may have to outsource this as none of our staff are trained competent persons?

Posted By Tony Brunskill Hi Tracey, Like most things this question will probably onlt be decided if it all goes wrong. Certain pesticides are licensed for domestic use. Generally these are prebaited containers or similar. Whether they are effective in the long term will depend on many things, not least of which is the size of the infestation. You may not be dealing with the common or garden legislation either, in adition to the usual suspesct you will need to consider the Control of Pesticide Regualtions and the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Even prebaited containers do not always protect against non target species and if you poison my lobster I might just sue. You can eamil me tbrunskill@corporatesafetysolutions(missthis bitouttoavoidspam).co.uk