Health & Safety

Document control

Company name: Field & Facility Rodent Control
Email: enq@fieldfacilityrodentcontrol.co.uk
Policy owner: Daniel Cahill, Owner
Version: 1.8
Effective date: 4th February 2026
Review date: 4th February 2027
Next scheduled review: Annually, and additionally following any significant change, incident, near miss, or legal update.

1. Statement of intent

Field & Facility Rodent Control is committed to achieving and maintaining excellent standards of health, safety, and welfare in all activities. We recognise that effective health and safety management is integral to our professionalism, our reputation, and the protection of everyone affected by our work.

We will, so far as is reasonably practicable, ensure the health, safety and welfare of our employees (where applicable) and conduct our undertaking so as to ensure that persons not in our employment are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.

We will:

Comply with applicable UK health and safety legislation and recognised good practice, including maintaining suitable and sufficient risk assessments and effective arrangements for planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review.
Provide and maintain safe systems of work for our operations, including mobile and out-of-hours work.
Ensure that all persons carrying out work on behalf of the business are competent, properly briefed, and appropriately supervised where required.
Maintain a robust approach to site safety, including co-operation and co-ordination with clients and duty holders.
Maintain a strict, safety-led approach to all shooting activities, operating only where lawful permissions are in place and safe conditions exist.

This policy is communicated to all persons working for or on behalf of Field & Facility Rodent Control and is made available to clients upon request.

Signed: Daniel J Cahill

Name: Daniel Cahill
Role: Owner
Date: 4th February 2026

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

The owner/director and any employees, subcontractors, or temporary workers engaged by Field & Facility Rodent Control.
All work activities including travel to/from sites, site surveys, out-of-hours operations, and shooting control activities.
All environments we work in, including farms, rural businesses, industrial facilities, yards, stores, and controlled-access premises.

Note: If we employ five or more people, a written health and safety policy is a legal requirement; however, we maintain a written policy regardless as a matter of professional standard.

3. Organisation and responsibilities

3.1 Owner/Director / Responsible Person

The Responsible Person has overall accountability for health and safety and will:

Set the expected standards and ensure this policy is implemented and maintained.
Ensure appropriate risk assessments are completed and reviewed.
Ensure suitable arrangements are in place for out-of-hours work and lone working.
Ensure competence, training, and safe systems are maintained for all work activities.
Ensure suitable welfare, first aid provisions, and incident reporting processes exist.
Ensure firearms and ammunition are stored, transported and used lawfully and safely in accordance with certificate conditions and business procedures.

3.2 Employees / subcontractors / workers

All workers have a duty to:

Take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others affected by their work.
Follow safe systems of work, client site rules, and instructions.
Use personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly and report defects.
Report hazards, near misses, incidents, and unsafe conditions promptly.
Stop work if conditions are unsafe (“stop work authority”).

3.3 Clients / site duty holders (co-operation)

We require clients and site duty holders to:

Provide accurate information about site hazards, restricted areas, and operating conditions.
Provide a nominated responsible contact and authority to grant permission/access.
Co-operate with controlled access arrangements (e.g., securing areas, restricting staff movement) where required for safe operations.
Provide site inductions and permit-to-work arrangements where applicable.

4. Health & safety arrangements

This section describes how Field & Facility Rodent Control manages risks in practice. In line with HSE guidance, our arrangements are based on identifying hazards, assessing risk, and implementing proportionate control measures.

4.1 Risk assessment and planning

We will:

Complete site-specific risk assessments for all work activities, including travel, access, work area conditions, lone working, and shooting operations.
Implement control measures using the hierarchy of control (eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE).
Review risk assessments:
- at least annually,
- after any incident/near miss,
- following changes to site conditions, equipment, work method, or legislation.

Minimum assessment considerations include:

public access/rights of way and boundary proximity
safe work areas and controlled access
terrain, lighting, weather
livestock and plant movement
structures, hard surfaces and ricochet risk (where relevant)
noise and hearing protection needs
biohazards (rodent contamination) and hygiene

4.2 Competence, training and supervision

Field & Facility Rodent Control will ensure that:

Only competent persons undertake work on behalf of the business.
Competence is maintained through a combination of training, practical experience, refresher learning, and documented briefings.
For shooting operations, only suitably experienced and authorised individuals will undertake activities, and all relevant certifications/permissions are maintained in date (including firearms certification where applicable).

4.3 Communication and consultation

We will:

Communicate this policy and relevant safe systems to anyone working for or with the business.
Provide clients with a clear method overview, boundaries of scope, and site requirements (access control, nominated contact, no-go areas).
Encourage early reporting of hazards and near misses to prevent incidents.

4.4 Lone working and out-of-hours operations

Because we operate out of hours and often as a lone worker, we will manage lone-working risks in line with HSE guidance.

Minimum controls include:

Pre-visit dynamic planning (site contact details, access arrangements, hazards, and boundaries).
Check-in / check-out process with a nominated person (call/text at agreed times).
Clear escalation procedure if a check-in is missed (call, then site contact, then emergency services if required).
Fatigue management: avoidance of excessive driving/working hours; rest breaks planned.
No lone working in higher-risk situations where it is not reasonably practicable to control the risks (e.g., unstable structures, uncontrolled public access, aggressive animals, or unsafe environmental conditions).

4.5 Vehicles, driving and mobile work

We recognise driving is a significant risk in mobile work. We will:

Ensure vehicles used for work are roadworthy, insured for business use, and maintained.
Plan journeys to reduce fatigue and rushing (especially at night).
Use safe parking arrangements and visibility measures at sites.
Store equipment securely during transport and when unattended.

4.6 Site access, controlled areas and public interface

We will:

Work only on private land/premises where permission has been granted by the occupier/landowner or authorised manager.
Establish and maintain controlled work zones where required.
Decline work where public access cannot be controlled to a safe standard.

4.7 Firearms, shooting operations and associated safety controls

Field & Facility Rodent Control undertakes shooting-only pest control as a specialist service.

We will:

Ensure all relevant firearms certification/permissions are in place, current, and complied with (including certificate conditions and secure storage requirements).
Transport firearms and ammunition lawfully and securely.
Maintain strict control of firearms in public-facing contexts; we recognise legal controls regarding firearms in public places and operate within lawful authority/reasonable excuse.
Only discharge a shot where:
- the target is positively identified and lawful for the circumstance,
- there is a safe stopping area and controlled environment,
- the risk of harm to people, livestock, property, or the wider public is controlled to an acceptable level,
- and the work is consistent with site risk assessment and client controls.

Stop work authority: if safe conditions cannot be achieved or maintained, work will stop immediately.

(This policy intentionally avoids “how to” shooting instruction. Operational detail sits in your site-specific RAMS and briefings.)

4.8 PPE management

We will provide and ensure the correct use of suitable PPE where risks cannot be adequately controlled by other means.

Typical PPE (as determined by assessment) may include:

safety footwear (appropriate sole and protection)
gloves suitable for biohazards/contamination
eye protection where relevant
hearing protection where noise exposure may arise
hi-vis clothing where vehicle movements exist
weather-appropriate clothing for night/outdoor work

PPE will be maintained, replaced when damaged, and stored hygienically.

4.9 COSHH and biological hazards (rodent contamination)

Rodent environments may present exposure risks (e.g., contaminated dust, urine/faeces, cleaning products). We manage these under COSHH principles: assessing risk and preventing or controlling exposure.

Controls include:

task-based risk assessment for contamination
hygiene procedures (hand hygiene, avoiding eating/drinking in contaminated areas)
appropriate gloves/respiratory protection where assessment indicates
safe handling and containment of contaminated materials
safe use and storage of cleaning chemicals per manufacturer instructions and COSHH assessment

4.10 Manual handling and ergonomics

We will:

Avoid hazardous manual handling where possible (e.g., using mechanical aids).
Apply good manual handling technique and plan loads, particularly for equipment, cases, and support gear.
Consider terrain, steps, confined spaces, and low light.

4.11 Slips, trips, falls and uneven ground

Common hazards include wet yards, mud, loose gravel, trailing cables, uneven surfaces, and low visibility. Controls include:

appropriate footwear
use of torches/lighting as required
careful route planning and hazard awareness
maintaining tidy working areas and secure equipment placement

4.12 Noise, hearing conservation and neighbours

Where noise exposure may occur, we will:

assess risk and use hearing protection as required
consider neighbour proximity and site constraints
follow client rules and local sensitivities, especially at night

4.13 Emergency arrangements

Before starting work on any site, we will ensure:

a means of communication is available (charged phone, signal check where possible)
emergency access arrangements are known (gates, keys, codes)
location details are recorded for emergency response
the client/site contact knows we are on site (where applicable)
workers understand “stop and withdraw” triggers (unsafe livestock behaviour, uncontrolled public access, sudden changes in conditions)

4.14 First aid

We will make adequate and appropriate first-aid provision based on our risk assessment and working conditions.

Minimum arrangements include:

a suitable first aid kit available during work
a means of summoning emergency help
review of first aid provision for lone working and remote rural sites

4.15 Accident, incident and near-miss reporting (including RIDDOR)

All accidents, incidents and near misses will be:

recorded internally
investigated proportionately to identify root causes
used to improve controls and prevent recurrence

Where the law requires, reportable events will be reported and records kept in line with RIDDOR requirements.

4.16 Monitoring, audit and review

We will monitor the effectiveness of our health and safety arrangements through:

periodic review of risk assessments and procedures
equipment checks and maintenance records
review of incidents/near misses and resulting actions
client feedback on site conduct and control measures

This policy will be reviewed:

at least annually,
after any significant incident/near miss,
when operational changes occur,
or when legislation/guidance changes.

5. Policy availability

A copy of this policy is:

retained by the Responsible Person,
issued to workers/subcontractors as required,
available to clients upon request.