What to do when employees complain about being bitten at work?

I’m sure this isn’t unusual. Every summer employees complain they have been bitten at work by some insect or other, usually invisible mites or something. Now they could be bitten anywhere e.g. at home, out and about etc.

How do you manage this? I imagine you get the pest control in and get them to have a look around the catch trays and to show a bit of willing??

Regards,
Simon

You would probably want the employee to show you the geographical place where he thinks he might have been bitten. Quality assurance might want to come up with some report about rodent control, to rule out flea bites, or how you avoid trash outside of bins or water accumulation, to rule out mosquito infestation; cleaning and fumigation, which reduces the chance of spiders or other types of mites. The fact that food facilites have to work under GMP´s makes it quite difficult to have anything that bites living there.
There was a case of one employee at a sister facility having to get some stitches because a CAT bit him. There are many other types of factories around, that don´t necessarily take care of GMPs, so the cat was probably taking a break from catching mice next door. The employee backed it up into a corner and tried to catch it. That´s the only bite I´ve heard an employee complain about. (And no, the cat was not part of the Quality Assurance department.)

You would probably want the employee to show you the geographical place where he thinks he might have been bitten. Quality assurance might want to come up with some report about rodent control, to rule out flea bites, or how you avoid trash outside of bins or water accumulation, to rule out mosquito infestation; cleaning and fumigation, which reduces the chance of spiders or other types of mites. The fact that food facilites have to work under GMP´s makes it quite difficult to have anything that bites living there.
There was a case of one employee at a sister facility having to get some stitches because a CAT bit him. There are many other types of factories around, that don´t necessarily take care of GMPs, so the cat was probably taking a break from catching mice next door. The employee backed it up into a corner and tried to catch it. That´s the only bite I´ve heard an employee complain about. (And no, the cat was not part of the Quality Assurance department.)

Thanks MRios, I suppose all you can do is carry out the necessary checks and if you have a pest control contract they will have a professional look for you. I think just having the exterminator prowling around with his weapons may have the desired psychological effect.

I suppose it’s a bit like employee stress. You can never be sure how much is caused by work and how much from home. The point is you should investigate and make sure any work causes are eliminated or minimized to the lowest level.

Regards,
Simon

Dear MRios,

And no, the cat was not part of the Quality Assurance department

I once found it equally difficult to write-up a food factory inspection where the Managing Director was accompanied by a pet dog.

Rgds / Charles.C

I’m sure this isn’t unusual. Every summer employees complain they have been bitten at work by some insect or other

My biggest problems have been with Wasps in the summer. They can be a real nuisance and the stings hurt too!

Regards,

Tony

Worse than wasps are those pesky Casual Intruders

Does anybody know what I mean?