The Art of Mole Trapping - Risk Assessment

Unfortunately, in today’s world it is vitaly important that you consider the risks of what you are doing. Setting mole traps are designed to fire with a lethal closing force is, of course, a dangerous activity and thought must be given to what might go wrong. You should properly consider the risks every time you set a mole trap, however it is especially important when traps are set on land that is accessible to the public. 
 
The main questions you should ask yourself are:
 
  • Does anybody else, including children, have access to the trapping area?  
  • Might they sustain an injury from one of the traps?
  • Do any other non-target animals (such as pets, livestock, or wild animals) have access to the trapping area?  
  • Might they sustain an injury from one of the traps?
  • Are there any subterranean hazards that may cause injury to your-self when placing the trap?  These might include buried electrical cables, water, or gas pipes.
  • Could the traps cause damage to any farm / domestic machinery, such as lawn mowers?
There may also be other possibilities, not mentioned here. If the answer to any of the above (or your own) questions is ‘yes’, then you should decide on the likelihood and the
severity of the risk. The likelihood is how likely you consider something to occur. The severity is how significant you think the risk is; would it result in a small bruise, or in death?  
 
If you decide that both the likelihood and the severity are low, then you may decide that that is an acceptable risk; you should continue, and monitor the situation. However, if you decide that there is either a high likelihood or a high severity, then you should take further action to mitigate these risks. This could involve a number of different actions, for instance:
 
  • Fencing off the area
  • Placing signage to warn other people
  • Clearly marking trap sites
  • Using a metal detector / utilities maps to locate (and avoid) underground pipes and cables
Remember that the consequences of setting a trap are the sole responsibility of the person that set the trap.


Risk assessment