The Guild of British Molecatchers
"Providing welfare for Moles through
awareness and control"
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"Providing welfare for Moles through awareness and control" |
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COMMERCIAL TOPICS Browse here to find items of interest to those engaged in commercial mole catching
INSURANCE The simple answer is Do not go out with out it! Will fountain insurance can help Call Bill Fountain
W F Fountain Insurance Agent - 0845 658 9054 (01604 588823) or mobile 07885 734
511 and email
willfountain@aol.com,'
W F Fountain,
Insurance Agent is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services
Authority.
The costs would be as follows for Sole Trader with no EE's [ employees ]
£500K - £84.00pa (£80.00 plus 5% IPT)
£1 Million - £105.00 (£100 plus 5% ipt)
£2million - £126.00 (£120 plus 5% ipt)
£5million - £152.25 (£145.00 plus 5% ipt)
£100 excess on every PL Claim.
Going forward the Mole Catchers would benefit with up to 20% NCD on their
premiums (maximum achievable at 3yr point of renewal) with reduction in
their premiums if they had never claimed.
Other additional services are available call Bill for further details Mole
Catchers Conditions
a) the trapping of Moles is carried out in accordance with The Guild of British Mole catchers Code of Practice b) only manual traps are to be used. This policy will not indemnify the insured in respect of any heat, chemicals or poisons used. c) Whilst it is acknowledged that Mole Catching may occasionally be carried out on, in or around Airports, Railways, near Canals/Rivers, Bridges, Collieries, Mines, Quarries, viaducts, steeples and Tunnels such works may only be carried out (1) within airports but excluding airside liability (2) on or around railways but excluding red zones (3) near canals/rivers or other watercourse but excluding any work that requires entrance into the water (4) on, in or around bridges, collieries, mines, quarries, viaducts, steeples or tunnels but excluding entrance into deep colliery shafts, mine shafts, tunnels or underground quarries
W F Fountain, Insurance Agent. 3 Poyntz Gardens, Dallington, Northampton. NN5
7RY Risk assessment
The Guild of British Molecatchers can provide a full 10 page document on consideration to a method statement, many members may not require this in their everyday working practices of mole catching. However there are circumstances when it may be necessary to provide such a document when undertaking works in certain locations of for various authorities and organisations. Whether you are a single operator or a small or large concern it is a requirement to comply with all aspects of health and safety to protect you and your business. You are not expected to eliminate all risk but you are required to protect people as far as "reasonably practicable " What is risk assessment? It is a consideration of what in your everyday work could cause harm to other people and therefore what precautions you could or should make to prevent that harm. You are legally required to assess the risks and to plan and employ some control to reduce or remove those risks. Even on a simple mole removal from a garden this is a requirement! Here are some guidelines to consider 1 - identify the hazards 2 - decide who might be harmed and how 3 - evaluate the risks and decide on precautions 4 - record your findings and implement them 5 - regularly review and update your assessment Remember not to over complicate things - a hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as is our case the main concern would be a mole trap! The risk is the chance whether high or low that somebody will be harmed by these and other hazards from our work. So consider what combined with our everyday practices could provide an indication of how serious this harm could be.
1 Identify the hazards You need to work out how people could be harmed? which in our case would be having contact with the traps, 2 Consider who might be harmed and how This will assist you in the best way of dealing with that risk, you do not have to list all by name but in groups such as occupiers, passers by or public access How may these groups be harmed- what type of injury may they receive? an adult may get a nip from a trap but to a young child the injury may be more severe! Where ever you are placing traps you will need to consider not just those resident to the location but also visitors to the location such as other contractors, gardeners or maintenance workers. Members of the public and even non target species such as other wildlife and pets! It may not be a legal requirement to consider pets and other wildlife under risk assessment but these are covered under other regulations and legislation that may apply. 3 Evaluate the risk and decide on precautions Having spotted the potential hazards you have to decide what measures you can take - remember the law requires you to do everything "reasonably practicable " to protect people from harm. Some things are simple to work out but compare what you are doing with good practice. What are you already doing? what control do you take and what when compared with good practice should you be doing to bring you up to a standard or enhance the standard you already have? Consider - can I get rid of the hazard all together or how can I control the risks so that harm is unlikely? We often cannot control the risks, the obvious one is to have all possible persons and other wildlife removed from the location/s until we have removed the moles! It can be achieved in a domestic garden at the request of - please keep the children away or the pets inside or by providing some form of guards around the areas, but so often this is not practicable in the work we undertake in some of the locations we are asked to attend. In these locations we must therefore consider taking other measures to reduce or remove possible harm. The placing of mole traps - buried in the ground to some mole trap users may be thought as a low risk task, the trap is covered over and out of sight from possible tampering that could cause a level of harm. If careful marking of the trap site location is made as to not identify the position then this risk is again reduced. These measures are our normal everyday working practices but we are required also to consider the influences out of our direct control in our risk assessments. One of these could be from traps exposed to the surface by mole activity, the trap visible could then become a potential hazard and cause harm. Our risk assessment would identify this and the precaution taken is a simple daily inspection. The regular inspection would not only here be providing for the requirement of reducing the risk of harm but also addressing the reduction to possible suffering to the target species the mole.
4 Record your findings and implement them Good working practices provides for a good business and by recording your findings enables you to build up solutions to different locations and situations When submitting a risk assessment for a client it does not have to be a perfect document it must provide evidence that a proper check was made a, you asked who might be at risk b, your precautions are reasonable and any remaining risks are low
A good plan of action often includes a combination of things A temporary measure such as some level of guard to the trap location/s Information to a responsible person to the locations and the hazards Regular checks - which under the risk assessment are to ensure that any precautionary measures such as guards stay in place as well as reducing possible suffering to the target species Having considered the risks and the precautions present it in a written format, keep your own record which often can be used for other clients Having a personal policy on your method of mole control ready is a time saving option 5 Review your assessment and update if necessary Few locations you are required to work at will stay the same but with a document ready for adjustment and a template to work from the risk assessment can be made quite easy. RISK ASSESSMENT FORM BLANK CLICK HERE ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Costing and charges It is impossible to provide any levels of tariffs for mole control by trap use as it is dependent upon so many circumstances. What should be considered is that the traditional molecatcher should not under sell the service they provide! It is often a unique service to an area or a field of pest management that other s cannot or do not offer. Molecatchers from all over the United Kingdom are providing the same service but the circumstances maybe different from the level of expenses that they incur when carrying out this service. In every walk of life and every type of business charges differ but the traditional molecatcher should compare their services with other services that the potential clients and customers are required to pay for. The infestation of other pest species is a good comparison, the treatment for a wasp nest is rarely questioned by a home owner due to the risk of harm to a member of the household and this quick treatment is rarely questioned. The same home owner faced with a mole may see it in a different light? The lawn may well be resembling the aftermath of the local rugby team training there but to employ the services of a molecatcher- well this matter needs a little more thought. It is only a mole- and they have never seen a mole only in visions from a childhood dream created from colourful drawings of a riverside. They will have considered the chances of it leaving of its own accord and sort the advice from the man smiling at the garden centre check out. Now they are faced with the daunting task of parting with more hard earned cash as desperation sets in. It is this desperation that often places pressure on the molecatcher when the very next day they are greeted with "is that it! "Do not be perturbed by this attitude for you have supplied the service as requested and fully adhered to the agreement of removing the mole from the lawn. What you have charged should have been agreed prior to the start of the works which brings us back around to what do you charge ? How far have you had to travel? Are you charging by the hour or per mole? What if the area has more than one mole present? Are you considering providing a small contract service? Travelling will be the main expense to the molecatcher, you have to get to the location and make return journeys until the task is completed. The journeys will be reduced by the correct placement of the traps required, the traps in the correct locations reduces the amount of traps used which in turn reduces the time spent at each location. This again will reflect on the time spent on inspecting the traps as it will take less time and of course you will having caught the mole be able to request payment for the completed task. So if you are carrying out everything correctly you should placing traps and collecting them the next day with the prospect of receiving payment. If you are considering the charge of no mole no pay which is a preferred option as it removes any confrontation of charges. You agree a price to remove the mole on the understanding that if you do not catch the mole then the client has nothing to pay and this would be irrespective to the amount of times you have to travel to the location. They will see it as an honest agreement and also be at rest with the chance that the mole may still leave on its own accord and they have spent nothing. It must be considered that at certain times of the year or under certain circumstances the mole may in fact leave but this is out of your hands initially until you have made that first visit and considered the findings. Here you will be at a loss as you will have to explain this circumstance but have the knowledge that the honesty you have supplied will keep your name and telephone number close to had for when it does raise another mole hill. When offering this service the client will know that upon the production of the offending mole that the agreed payment will be required to be made. Charging by the hour is an option too, it may however create doubt in your ability to catch the mole and should the mole have left prior to your arrival and appraisal of the situation seeking payment could result in a potential loss of a long term client. However we are not in mole catching to provide a free advice service. It is your choice and your business! Often you may be presented with more than one area to remove the moles from and this again requires thought on how to cost correctly. You may wish to continue with an hourly charge of if working on a no mole no pay option provide a further incentive to the client? The agreed price for the first mole and a reduced charge for the second, again the client will fully understand the maximum and minimum of the expected cost for your services. A further incentive can be offered should both moles be caught at the same time- for example over night which then the first single rate could apply. The client is presented with the problem solved and a reduced charge, you have not had to make any return travelling to remove the potential second mole so you have reduced your expenses. The client will certainly use your services again and recommend you to friends and family which is worth the reduction in charge. Contracts were once the main source of income to molecatchers, paid by the parish their wares hung on fences and gates as to proof of the works done, and still today such working is undertaken. Should you be asked for a contract it will possibly be for a large area of coverage such as agricultural. The farmers that once employed traditional molecatchers are now again requiring the services they so long ago turned their backs upon. Once again molecatchers and British agriculture can work side by side as before and more efficiently than ever before with the new understanding of moles and better techniques than ever before. Setting up a contract will require more careful thought to such issues as land use for access and weather influences. You may be requested to call at the sign of any mole activity just to find the mole is not staying so much to consider when working to such a level Also you will need to work out an agreeable cost- this is the hard bit- some areas the price that is paid for mole trapping has been considerably influenced by the use of poison. The cheap and nasty reflected the cost- cheap, it was a simple job drop a few worms into the ground and walk away, this impression was what was created and still seen to be the case with sections of the country. The task required is the same- the removal of the moles but with the tried and tested method of trap use the moles are actually that removed! Evidence provided to the completed task and not as previously only the word of the person taking the money. Mole trapping is a skill, a service that actually does what it says on the tin and people employing molecatchers need to accept this. In doing so must understand that if the moles are to be controlled then a reasonable agreement for costing must apply.
Climate This may to some be of little interest but has a huge impact on mole control, an understanding of the weather in your area can not only help you plan your activities but enable an understanding of these influences on the moles locally. It is generally accepted that the influences of the weather and its changes dictates to the mole as it places extreme pressure on the food that is vital to the survival of the mole. By examining the weather in your area can assist in gaining a better knowledge of these effects at the time of your control activities of moles. By recording the previous weather and cross referring to circumstances that may have occurred whilst mole catching will build up a better knowledge and the investment in even a small level of weather recording equipment can be of immense help in constructing answers to many problems. Levels of rainfall, air and ground temperature, wind-chill and wind direction when actually observed locally can create a wealth of help in the ever increasing need to understand the MOLE! ADVERTISING
What you say about yourself and your services is the most important part of advertising. Yes many will publish fabricated details of what they can provide in an effort to attract custom. It has to be said that your customers are the most important part of your business, make the mistake here and you will find yourself on a downward slide. A good name is hard to create a bad one is easy and will stay with you for a long time. As the Guild motto stats - BE HONEST and begin the first contact with your potential customer on the right foot, good explanations of the service you can provide and the intention to work to those promises.
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