15 replies to this topic

[carine]

i;m worked in 25 years old factory, we got 38 TRBS along our factory perimeter, we notice the feeding these TRBS were very high, almost all bait have been taken every month. Nevertheless, i didnt see any rat scurrying in our production area nor warehouse. now i probelm is every time auditor see my trendanalysis, they will query me do i take any corrective action on d trendanalysis. To be honest, i have done everything for example increase bait station, reposition bait station all didnt work for me. Anyone of you encounter this problem before and mind to share ur experience?

[Charles.C]

i;m worked in 25 years old factory, we got 38 TRBS along our factory perimeter, we notice the feeding these TRBS were very high, almost all bait have been taken every month. Nevertheless, i didnt see any rat scurrying in our production area nor warehouse. now i probelm is every time auditor see my trendanalysis, they will query me do i take any corrective action on d trendanalysis. To be honest, i have done everything for example increase bait station, reposition bait station all didnt work for me. Anyone of you encounter this problem before and mind to share ur experience?

Dear carine,

It sounds like you have encountered SuperRat.

TRBS = ? Terrible Rat Baiting Station ?
product / process = ?
bait = ?
internal control = ?

Rgds / Charles.C

[Shyguy77]

Carine, here are some articles ive collected on pest management. Maybe something in here will help you out in your investigation and corrective action on this matter. By the sounds of it you may want to also involve a contracted pest management company to come in and assess the situation and give you some advice. Also if it seems to be only the outside bait stations that the level of pest activity seems to be high in, it may be a larger pest then mice or rats. Hope some of this can help and good luck in resolving this matter


 Pest White Paper 2011.pdf   3.68MB   170 downloads
 Pest%20Management%20Standard%20for%20Food%20Plants%20NPMA1.pdf   532.95KB   135 downloads
 managing insect pests in food storage facilities1.pdf   238.6KB   115 downloads






P.S. Please vote for my photo “jpredmore” in the IFSQN t-shirt contest.

[Bojan]

i;m worked in 25 years old factory, we got 38 TRBS along our factory perimeter, we notice the feeding these TRBS were very high, almost all bait have been taken every month. Nevertheless, i didnt see any rat scurrying in our production area nor warehouse. now i probelm is every time auditor see my trendanalysis, they will query me do i take any corrective action on d trendanalysis. To be honest, i have done everything for example increase bait station, reposition bait station all didnt work for me. Anyone of you encounter this problem before and mind to share ur experience?

Dear Carine,

some good advices above.
i will second suggestion to take outside help for situation like this. There are specialized companies.
Second, i wouldnt worry about outside baits, that is practically open buffet for rodents and it serves as first line of defence- place baits inside factory, in warehouse, on entrances etc. You will have better control on situation. Regularly control inside baits.

Good luck!

[carine]

Dear Bojan:

the problem is our factory only got fist line defense only,wondering how to proved to auditor, pest didnt entry to our production?

[Setanta]

I would suggest that you add internal traps and keep records of any activity found there, We have nibbles to our outside stations all winter season long, it it the activity inside that is important.

Best Regards,
Setanta

[carine]

TRBS meant temper rat bait station, our product is ice. when come to internal monitoring, we did check our factory surrounding for the sign of rat for example dropping, dead insect..etc. based on weekly basis. Fyi, our factory only got 1st defence line only.
Dear carine,

It sounds like you have encountered SuperRat.

TRBS = ? Terrible Rat Baiting Station ?
product / process = ?
bait = ?
internal control = ?

Rgds / Charles.C
[/quote]

[elaine1980]

This is a really interesting question and one which I have been thinking about myself recently! I have an external pest control contractor inspecting external baits every month, each month there are takes on the baits. All internal baits are okay. I think it would be advantageous for you to seek the expertise of a contractor who might be able to establish for you exactly "what" is eating your bait as it may not be rodents. My baits are often the result of water damage (which effectively washes away the bait), sometimes slugs or insects, but very rarely rodents. May I ask why you have no internal baits?

[carine]

dear Elaine ,

what do u mean by internal baits? it is 2nd defense line of pest control program? fyi, our bait location right out of the production area.

[Charles.C]

Dear Carine,

Internal = within the processing environment / offices /stores, ie opposite to "outside the factory".

How easy is it for rodents to continue past the outer perimeter ? One factory I audited opened a side door at night to get some cool air in.!

My guess is that the corrective action which the auditor mentioned was expected to include some internal control measures, eg traps. I'm rather surprised he/she didn't already regard the lack of any as a NC.

You omitted to inform the nature of yr external baits, not candy or something equally desirable in comparison to yr finished product?

I don't suppose you have a readily accessible internal restaurant for the workers or something similar? (I rather doubt that rats would normally be highly fascinated by ice blocks unless you are located in the desert ?).

IMEX rats inside are often heard / spotted first by the night-shift engineers but they often have a habit of saying nothing.

Rgds / Charles.C

[Tony-C]

i;m worked in 25 years old factory, we got 38 TRBS along our factory perimeter, we notice the feeding these TRBS were very high, almost all bait have been taken every month. Nevertheless, i didnt see any rat scurrying in our production area nor warehouse. now i probelm is every time auditor see my trendanalysis, they will query me do i take any corrective action on d trendanalysis. To be honest, i have done everything for example increase bait station, reposition bait station all didnt work for me. Anyone of you encounter this problem before and mind to share ur experience?

Hi Carine,



Wow this is quite worrying! An auditor will see this as a major problem and want to see corrective action so that is no surprise but more for your own peace of mind this needs to be sorted out.

Are you able to post a bait plan? do you have baits around buildings and do you have interior monitoring?

Your pest controller (if you have one) should be recommending and taking actions to eliminate this problem. Have you walked round the perimeter and looked at what can be improved such as removal of vegetation, elimination of rubbish and other signs of rodent activity such as burrows, droppings etc? Is it possible that someone is stealing the bait or is it being eaten?

It may also be the case that the rodents have become resistant to the bait and a new one should be used to see if it is more effective. Again your pest controller should advise and they should also be monitoring and taking action more frequently rather than routinely reporting this level of bait take and just replenishing once a month.

Regards,

Tony

Edited by Tony-C, 17 April 2013 - 11:10 AM.

[Ptinid]

Hi all

the use of external bait points is becoming controversial, and personally I find that, in many cases, there is little reason to keep them in place, especially around perimeter fencing.

There are some key questions that need to be asked before assuming that there is a problem.

1. How far away from the building are your bait points? If they are right up against your external walls, and these are being hit, you may indeed have problems.
2. What is eating the bait? You should be able to determine, by the way the bait is damaged, what it is. Mice, Rats? You do need to know this.
3. Why do you have no detection system inside the plant? You may not be allowed to use toxins, but traps work, and there are other methods of detection (tracking powders, non-toxic monitoring baits) that would give you more information than you currently have.

The key to determining if you have a problem is getting the information right, and getting enough of it. If there are rats outside, where are they living? How are they getting to the plant? Can they access teh plant, and if so, have you sealed up all the holes, closed all the doors?

Simply increasing baits will NOT solve your problem. In many locations, there is, in effect, an infinite supply of rodents - especially mice -outside. All you are doing is poisoning things that will in turn poison other predators/dogs/cats/birds etc.

You should look seriously at your reasons for the decisions on bait siting. Look at protection - the principles of pest management are Exclusion, Restriction, then Destruction. Keep your site proofed against them.

I hope this is of some help.

[KTD]

Carine -

     I apologize for the late post, but one issue that I did not see brought up is insects. In my geographic area, it is not uncommon for certain insects, especially crickets, to feed on exterior baits. Since baits are often plant-based and the poisons directed to mammals, insects can often eat to their little hearts' content. Has anyone tried scattering a little talcum powder around the entrances to see what kind of 'foot prints' show up? if you can show that it was insects eating the bait, you can use that to support rodents probably not entering the facility. You might then have the issue of how to prove insects did not enter the facility...
     Also, your post seems to indicate that bait stations are only being checked monthly. If that is the case, if rodents are eating the bait, they may not be getting sufficient poison for a killing affect. May need to increase the frequency.

[Craig L.]

Carine,

 

We have external devices along the exterior of our building which contain no bait. They are anchored traps containing glue boards only. I have used bait stations in the past where it seems the rodents are being drawn to the facility when you want them away. If you have no activity inside and only pressure from outside you have won 80% of the battle. You might look at the environment surrounding the facility:  Are there  poorly kept food facilities near? Are there fields which are uncut or producing crops? Is there standing water near?

You may not be able to control things beyond your perimeter but you may be able to work with your neighbors to correct issues they have which will benefit you.

 

Good Luck!

 

CB

[KTD]

CBowers -

    Completely forgot about using glue boards - both to capture and to identify actual pests involved. Of course, the inspection frequency has to be fairly frequent to avoid issues with animal cruelty...

[Aggelos]

There are products specific for rats (ie wax blocs) and mice (pasta) so there is a way to determine what you are being attacked from. Fence bait stations would be a good idea also as long as it reduces population to your perimeter zone.