Spraying Certificates: Understanding sprayer compliance and training requirements
Confused about the spraying rules? Not sure if you or your workforce need, or even have, the right certificate? You are not alone.
Terminology and codes can prevent a clear understanding of the pesticide rules. Even seasoned spray veterans sometimes get confused, uncertain if they are complying with, or breaking the rules.
Hush Farms Training provides a comprehensive range of sprayer training courses to help ensure you and your workers are compliant with regulations. Click here to find our sprayer training.
How to decide which spraying certificates are right for you
A case in point recently came to light for a customer of Hush Farms. A national organisation regularly using pesticide sprays contacted us in confusion about the legal rights and wrongs of using a sprayer on an ATV.
The organisation knew their employees had operator tickets for ATVs (they had done them with Hush Farms Training), and they knew they were certificated for using weedkiller via knapsacks (Lantra’s Hand-Held Applicator or NPTC’s PA6a, which they’d also done through Hush Farms Training). What they didn’t know was whether the employees needed a vehicle-mounted spray certificate for these jobs, because they were spraying using an ATV.
Luckily for them, the Hush Farms Training pesticide courses also include Lantra’s vehicle-mounted or trailed boom sprayer certificates (NPTC’s PA2a).
If they had applied weedkiller via a spray tank mounted on an ATV, rather than via knapsacks they may have been legal thanks to their Lantra hand-held certificate (PA6a). The key factor here is application by a hand lance from the ATV sprayer.
We discussed the spraying certification rules with the organisation and let them know the ways in which they were compliant. We also provided time to understand any other areas which had been uncertain to them.
Supervisors and spraying licenses
Being a supervisor carries risks if training and certification isn’t completed correctly. While supervisors do not necessarily need to possess the PA6a operator ticket themselves, HSE regulations require supervisors to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the subject they are directing others in the workforce to do.
That is exactly why we at Hush Farms Training regularly run certificated Pesticide Supervisor Courses (call us for details). Training ensures supervisors know:
The basic spraying rules
Which tickets their operators needand
Ways in which their workforce can also be compliant with HSE Chemical Regulations Division (CRD) regulations.
It’s a better option than serving a prison sentence for breaching Health and Safety law.
Pesticides Regulations
Pesticide regulations are made and enforced exclusively by HSE, or more correctly their Chemical Regulations Division (CRD). CRD only recognises certification for pesticide use from either Lantra or NPTC. Certification from any other awarding body will not comply with CRD regulations.
That’s why all Hush Farms Training pesticide courses are accredited by Lantra or NPTC. As far as the CRD is concerned, the same operator can have a mixture of some spraying certificates issued by Lantra and some by NPTC.
Both Lantra and NPTC pesticide certificates are considered “lifetime” awards by the CRD. Operators only need to show that they undertake continual professional development (CPD) to keep the certificate valid. This differs from other courses available from Hush Farms Training, such as the Forklifts or Chainsaw operator training, which need to be refreshed every few years to comply with HSE regulations.
Choosing the right sprayer certification for the right application
Weed wipers are exceptionally good at clearing broad leaf weeds, rushes and bracken in grassland.
Until 2012, operators could use weed wipers if they had a Lantra vehicle-mounted or trailed boom sprayer ticket (PA2a). However, the CRD now expects weed wiper users to hold the correct certificate: either Lantra’s trailed or mounted wick applicator, or NPTC’s PA2f. Hush Farms Training regularly holds short courses to help operators get the right certificate for these types of pesticide applicators.
Regardless which of these certificates you need — (hand-held PA6a, or PA6aw for use near water; stem injection PA6inj; stump plugs PA6pp; vehicle mounted/trailed Boom PA2a; slug pellet applicator (PA4s); Weed-wiper PA2f — ALL operators need first to obtain Lantra’s Safe Use of Pesticide Certificate (or NPTC PA1), which can be done as a simple one-day course with Hush Farms, before moving on to training and assessment for knapsack, weed wiper or whatever pesticide certificate is needed.
There is a wide range of different certificates you may need, depending on your method of spray application:
PA6inj for stem injection
PA6pp for stump plugs
Before operators can attend any of the training courses for these certificates, they must first obtain Lantra’s Safe Use of Pesticide Certificate (NPTC PA1). This is a simple one day course from Hush Farms Training and once completed, you can then move onto completing the relevant modules listed above.
Online spraying certification trainin
If you prefer, Hush Farms Training can also provide these courses online. They can be completed in your own time, dipping in and out when time allows; even studying ‘out of office hours’. You’ll find details for this, along with several other online courses, here: https://www.hushfarmstraining.co.uk/online-land-based-training-courses
Sprayer certification can be simple with the right support
I hope this guide to the different pesticide regulations helps you to correctly assess whether you are currently compliant or require additional training for your workforce. If you have any further questions, or want to discuss our training courses then please contact us [RK11] and we will be happy to chat it through to make sure you have the right certificate for the job. Stay safe, folks.
Spraying Certificates: Frequently Asked Questions
How do we show that, some operators came to us from other jobs with certificates from years ago?
It’s a question we hear frequently from organisations we work with. Helpfully, it’s quite easy to join one of our certified courses to show operator pesticide CPD is being maintained.
Can an employee with a 2010 PA6a ticket apply pesticides via injection guns as well as with a knapsack?
If, for instance, your workers were completing stem injection for invasive weeds like Japanese Knotweed or Himalayan Balsam, then legally they will need Lantra’s application of pesticides with stem injection equipment certificate (NPTC’s PA6inj). Hush Farms Training regularly run short courses for that, as well as pesticide stump plugs (PA6pp), which are ideal for making sure woody weeds, like overgrown laurel or rhododendron, do not grow back after all the effort of clearing them with a chainsaw.
The good news is, however, that neither the PA6inj nor the PA6pp certificates were formally introduced by CRD until 2012. Until that date, these spray devices had been officially allowed, as long as the operator possessed the hand-held applicator certificate (PA6a). This means that someone getting their PA6a in 2010 is technically permitted to use stem injection and stump plug equipment, although the CRD would be happier if the operator completed CPD to obtain the correct ticket under present-day rules.
Do I need a specific certificate to spray near a watercourse?
Pesticides sprayed near rivers, brooks and streams can create run-off that pollutes the water and affects wildlife for miles around. There is a separate certificate, therefore, for anyone wishing to use hand held sprayers near watercourses. This is the PA6aw certificate, and training is available from Hush Farms Training.
If I’m a sprayer contractor working on someone else’s land, who needs the spraying certification?
The certificate applies to the operator who is conducting the spraying, not the land owner. You will need to hold all the relevant training accreditations which apply to the type of spraying and the equipment you will be using. You can find the relevant sprayer certification training courses here.
Is amenity spraying certified differently from agricultural spraying
The HSE expect that regardless of where the spraying is conducted, the operator is sufficiently trained and certified to use spraying equipment safely and properly. The training therefore applies to the type of spraying equipment, and the method of spraying (weed wiping for example), rather than the location. The only specified exception is spraying near watercourses, which has its own certificate.