Bird Control Procedure (Packaging Plant)
Anyone has a procedure/guidelines for Bird Control? Thank you very much.
Anyone has a procedure/guidelines for Bird Control? Thank you very much.
Dear po6ito,
Generic or any particular species ?
May one enquire where the "birds" are coming in at the moment ?
May depend on yr local regulations.
Rgds / Charles.C
Yes, more information would be appreciated. Do you need a program for controling a bird population?
Setanta
Generically speaking, keep your facility properly maintained to prevent their intrusion. You can add facility inspections to your internal audits, and have a policy stating that you don't let doors remain open, ensure all voids in the walls are properly sealed, etc. Everyone keeps telling me an "office bb gun" isn't acceptable, so I had to look at stopping them before they get inside.
If you're still having a bird problem after that, a consultation with a pest control company might be beneficial to you.
We have a general Integrated Pest Management SOP that explains our approach to dealing with all pests, and our expectations of our pest control subcontractor. For birds specifically, we had a problem with roosting on the roof. We found that using a device which broadcasts bird-in-distress noises has been extremely effective in keeping them away from the building.
I was asked about birds entering the facility in a recent audit - I responded to the audit the same way as ksullivan regarding our IPM etc. He asked what the procedure was for getting a bird out of the facility....I pointed to the IPM where it stated that if a bird entered the facility the lights are turned off and the door is opened in the area of the bird - the bird will fly out to the lighted area every time...Satisfied the Auditor
We don't have a "what to do if a bird enters your facility" procedure written. For our company it's a non-occurrance, and unless your company has a history of that particular event occuring then I can't see where it should be required. If they require a bird policy for a non-occurring event, then why stop there? Wouldn't one need a mountain lion policy? A coyote policy? Lizard policy? Stray cats? [Any critter in your area policy?] Where would it stop? hahaha Just thinking out loud.
Ouch
Wouldn't one need a mountain lion policy? A coyote policy? Lizard policy? Stray cats? [Any critter in your area policy?] Where would it stop? hahaha Just thinking out loud.
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
Anyone has a procedure/guidelines for Bird Control? Thank you very much.
Some useful and funny comments posted.
Other controls include spikes and netting on canopies but I would look for my pest controller to advise if required.
Regards,
Tony
This is a good question. Birds are fairly ubiquitous around the globe and could be a problem almost anywhere. Much more common than nuisance lizards, coyotes and those pesky nuisance mountain lions. :roflmao:.
If you have shipping/receiving doors then you have the chance of birds getting in to a production facility (They can fly after all). In almost 20 yrs of food safety I have seen birds in several different facilities. I've even heard of a bird being inside a trailer and flying out once the trailer was locked to the dock-lock and the door was raised. I've audited many different food production facilities and from what I have seen, one would have to be naive to think that a bird could never ever get in.
Having said that, prevention is the definitely the best solution here. I recommend you contact a very reputable pest control provider for a quote on bird control. When they come to complete their inspection, walk with them, talk with them and soak up everything they say on bird prevention. You can decide what measures, if any, you want to implement.
Despite all of your best efforts, a bird still might get inside. If a bird does get into a facility, it could be useful to have a procedure that includes some or all of the following:
- information on how/who to contact (facilities pest control experts)
- instructions to raise mist nets if available
- if the bird is in a peripheral part of the building or in an attached DC, secure (lockout within firecode allowance) all doors into the main production area. Signage on the doors might help
- If the bird gets into the actual production area, you should have a plan. Do you want all production to stop? Do you have a way to cover the lines?
If you feel, as some previous posters do, that a bird is highly unlikely to gain access to your facility, perhaps you simply make sure that you have a general IPM procedure that says who to call in the event of an unwelcome/unusual pest. ie) bird, bat, mountain lion.
Regards,
Dan
We once had a bat in our forming area. One of the guys caught it.
Do you think it is ok to put that in the procedure? If a bird or similar animals enter the facility, call the 'animal catcher'.
:rofl2:
We once had a bat in our forming area. One of the guys caught it.
Do you think it is ok to put that in the procedure? If a bird or similar animals enter the facility, call the 'animal catcher'.
:rofl2:
If we ended up with a bird in our facility, I can already imagine which employee would be the one assigned to go grab it... Our version of the "animal catcher" would be the "overall odd job" guy. The one we can rely upon for the odd things that come up out of the ordinary.
Unless bird enterances are so frequent to dictate a specific bird policy, I almost think a generic "pest intrusion" policy might be more helpful. Something stating that in the event of known animal or pest intrusion, production to be paused and management notified in order to remedy the situation. Otherwise, the devil advocate in me thinks an auditor could say, "Well, I see you have a bird policy. What about bats? What about [insert other fuzzy creature here]?"
I get that birds might be more common to some, but if we rely on what is "more common" to certain individual experiences, that opens the door for those auditors who love to audit from their own personal perspective. I think we all know how bad those can potentially be...
There are certain bird spikes that you can ask to install there and feel free or you can call pest control and ask them to control it
I think it really depends on the risks involved - are the birds ingressing on warehousing only areas or are they getting in to food handling packaging areas? Your risk assessment should tell you everything you need to know and how you approach the problem with your pest control contractor.