Key Factors to Look for When Choosing a Pest Control Professional

Speaking of audits…Because pest management can account for so much of your total audit score, there’s a lot riding on the success of your pest management program. In addition to documentation, your pest management professional should work with you to ensure all documents are in proper order and audit ready at any time.

Look for a pest management provider that can help you get prepared for the third-party auditor, based on the food safety standards with which your facility is required to comply, and even provide onsite support the day of your audit.

Keep your staff in mind, too. Even the greatest pest management plans can struggle in facilities that don’t have buy-in from the staff. Your staff plays an important role in reporting pest sightings and keeping your facility clean.

With this in mind, make sure to ask about resources a pest management provider can offer your staff. Many providers offer staff training and educational resources like tip sheets and checklists—often at no extra cost.

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Establish thresholds. Even with a proactive, responsive pest management partner, creating a pest-free environment can be difficult but achievable. To get to this goal, thresholds should be set. Thresholds dictate how much pest activity—and what types of pests—are acceptable before corrective actions need to be taken.

Thresholds are best set by working with your pest control professional because there are several factors that come into play.

For instance, if you’re in an older facility or located in an environment that is more conducive to pest activity, such as areas that are near water, heavily wooded or warm, your pest management provider may want to counter these challenges with exclusion recommendations that can include extensive building maintenance and repairs.

If you’re in a newer building and don’t currently battle any present pest issues, it may be perfectly reasonable to move forward with a “one pest is one too many” threshold. You can continue partnering with your provider to adjust your IPM program over time to ensure that your pest management program stays effective.

Even with a sound IPM plan, however, if you are currently battling pests—whether they are cockroaches, ants, flies, or rodents—it will take time to reach your threshold goals. Work with your pest management provider to create a timeline for steady and reasonable improvement.

Once you choose a pest management provider, lean on constant communication and hammer out the roles of everyone involved. Set benchmarks for your pest management program and establish specific times throughout the year to evaluate the program’s success and areas of improvement with your provider.

Keep all of this in mind, and you can help build a solid, long-lasting partnership with your next pest control provider.

Dr. Siddiqi is director of quality systems for Orkin, LLC. A board certified entomologist with more than 35 years in the industry, Dr. Siddiqi is an acknowledged leader in the field of pest management. Reach him at [email protected].