These regulations require retailers selling garden plant protection products to have a sufficient number of trained and certified staff available at the point of sale to provide advice to customers on garden plant protection products.
To help retailers meet those requirements the Crop Protection Association (CPA) and HTA have developed an online tool to provide training for garden retail staff on the safe and effective use of garden plant protection products.
The one hour long, e-learning course is designed toincrease the knowledge of garden retail staff when it comes to garden care chemicals and help them to provide advice to customers, while ensuring that businesses comply with the new legislation.
The course has been approved by the Chemicals Regulation Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive and has been accredited by Pershore College.
The e-learning course is designed to help staff develop a good knowledge of garden plant protection products by understanding the label. The label is designed to ensure correct use, environmental safety, safe disposal and where to go for further information.
The course cost is £10 plus VAT per delegate and includes an assessment and download of a personalised certificate once successfully passed. The course can be accessed via the HTA learning portal http://www.htalearning.org.uk/
Gary Philpotts, chair of the Common Sense Garden Group said: "This interactive course is a simple cost effective way for garden retailers to ensure they meet the requirements of the SUD legislation and improve the service they offer to customers.
"After completing the course, garden retail staff will have excellent foundation knowledge that enables them to give confident, clear and accurate advice about how, where and when to use products and how to dispose of them safely."
