Exterminate!

Retail

For retailers, the summer heat often translates into unwanted insects and rodents on-site. Such pests impact the bottom line, and are not that easy to get rid of. Once an infestation has occurred, it can be difficult to eliminate.

Prevention is by far the easiest and most cost effective way to control pest problems. Pests are attracted to stores and other commercial buildings because these facilities frequently offer food, moisture, shelter and optimal pest temperatures. By removing access to these elements, retailers can make their stores uninviting to insects as well as rodents.

Pests often enter stores through openings around windows and doors and around utility penetrations.

Eliminating these unnecessary openings makes the building much less enticing and accessible.

Food processing environments

A pest infestation can put a business’ reputation at risk because nobody wants a foreign body in a product.

And pest management in such environments is also very sensitive.

Special precautions must be taken to keep pest control treatments from threatening food safety. To better control pests while respecting a food plant’s sensitive environmental needs, apply the principles of IPM.

The IPM programme recognises that pest management is a process, not a one-time event, and that relying solely on chemical controls when so many other tools are available is never the best solution.

By addressing the underlying causes of pest infestations the IPM programme can prevent infestation before harmful pesticides are even considered for the job.

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Hospitals, cockroaches and pathogens

Maintaining a sterile environment for all patients, especially those with a compromised immune system, is extremely important, and pests like cockroaches pose a threat to that environment of care.

Cockroaches can carry bacteria on the outside of their bodies, and if they find their way inside your facility they can then transfer those pathogens to the surrounding environment. But an effective sanitation and facility maintenance programme can help keep these pests from endangering patients, staff, reputation and bottom line.

A number of health threats are associated with cockroaches including conjunctivitis, pneumonia, gastroenteritis, diarrhea and asthma. In fact, research from the American Allergy Institute shows that cockroach excrement and cast skins contain allergens that aggravate asthma. Because cockroaches walk through trash and filth, they pick up bacteria in less than sterile environments.

Cockroaches have existed for more than 350 million years because they’ve adapted to their environment. When other food sources don’t exist, they will eat almost anything including dust, glue and eyelashes to survive. As long as they have a water source they can survive without food for two months.

Roach documentation

If you spot a cockroach in your facility, it’s important to work with a pest management professional to quickly identify the source of the problem. A pair of German cockroaches can produce 400 offspring in six months, and if those offspring mate it can result in hundreds of thousands of cockroaches in a year.

Even one cockroach sighting can signal the possibility of a future infestation. If you see a cockroach, document where you saw it, at what time and any conditions that could contribute to why it is there, such as a leaking sink.

One pest-monitoring method is the use of small glue boards, which have a sticky, non-toxic surface. Place them strategically around the problem area to capture cockroaches and determine their traffic patterns
As with all pest management, involve professionals, who can ensure that the devices are used correctly and safely and placed in areas away of patients, staff and visitors. 

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