Pest Control & Employee Belongings as Possible Source
Hello All,
I wanted to run this idea by and get your thoughts on the matter.
Our facility is really small and currently does not have a changing room. Employees come in to the facility and go over to the location where we store uniforms and other gear (hair nets, bead nets, etc.). They get dressed and then enter another section of the plant where there is a medium sized breakroom which has lockers for personal belongings, a large refrigerator, tables, chairs.
As there are more employees than we have lockers, many of them are storing their purses and backpacks on the tables. I have also noticed lunchbags on the tables as well.
Along with this, I have noticed that I am seeing an increase in pest activity in the area as well. I am concerned that the pests may be coming from the homes of the employees and using their purses/backpacks as a taxi to our facility.
To reduce the risk of a full blown infestiation, my proposed plan of action for employees is to require them to place all lunch items into the refrigerator (no lockers) as well as supplying them with small, clear, vinyl zip top bags (not ziplock type) for small items like cell phones, keys, and wallets. I would like to ban them from bringing purses and backpacks into the facility. While I know the small vinyl bags will not prevent any free riding pests, i hope that with visibility it would be easy for both them/us to spot a pest in their belongings as well as discourage them from bringing unecessary items to work and therefore reduce the risk.
What are your thoughts on this?
My immediate reaction is that it is unlikely that the pests are being transported to your facility via your employees, but then what do I know,I guess you're talking about insects as opposed to rodents?
What is an issue though is the storage of food items, that would be an invitation to pests.
The food needs to be stored appropriately in a fridge if possible.
You need a proper pest control audit to identify vectors for infestation and then a proper pest control management system.
Are you doing your own pest control or have you an outside contractor?
The other issue that you need to address, if you do think that your employees are a vector, is a good food hygiene training session for them, stressing the importance of personal hygiene in all areas, cleanliness, dress, bags and lunchboxes.
I'm sure others will have more detailed help for you , but those are my thoughts for now.
One time a pest control guy told me this - because he was totally racist! Seriously, he was like "Well, you do have a lot of Mexicans working here, they're probably bringing them with them." then proceeded to go on a crazy tirade about how disgusting they were! :yikes: We changed service techs.
They like to live in water coolers, under fridges, try checking there. I used to work at a cooler refurbisher and you would not believe some of the stuff we'd get back.
trubertq is right, leaving food out will attract um and it's hygiene issue. Plus there's a risk of allergen contamination if you get really risk assessy about it. What if an employee leaves out peanut etc and gets some on their uniform
To add to the great advice.
You need to provide enough lockers for all personnel and for all of their personal items (you can trim this down) and enough storage for their foodstuffs. Once you provide adequate storage you can be strict about what goes where. You also need to have very good cleaning and waste disposal program in the breakroom. This will likely require some investment, which may or may not be open to you. Without it you will be sticking a plaster (band aid) over a gaping wound.
What kind of pests are you seeing?
They like to live in water coolers, under fridges, try checking there. I used to work at a cooler refurbisher and you would not believe some of the stuff we'd get back.
trubertq is right, leaving food out will attract um and it's hygiene issue. Plus there's a risk of allergen contamination if you get really risk assessy about it. What if an employee leaves out peanut etc and gets some on their uniform
Amen, MM. Having food out is like sending an invitation to the little critters. And add under cabinets to that list of living places. I've seek cockroaches literally pour out from under the bottoms of cabinets.
Cockroaches bring their own little allergy risk with them, since many people are allergic to their excreta. ?That's a hazard for your workers, since it's not a food allergy but an inhaled allergy.
All food needs to be in sealed containers at all times. That includes fruit. If they want to bring lunches, then the food needs to be in a tightly closed lunch box of some kind, and not a paper bag.
If your problem is cockroaches and the lunchroom is not near the production area, I would look into putting boric acid down under the cabinets. It is less toxic than insecticides, it prevents infestation and does not need renewal. But you would need to consult with a professional pest control service who knows about food safety for their advice on that.
Martha
Thanks for all the input. To answer some of your questions, the pests i was referring to are roaches. We are mostly a seasonal operation, (small crew all year, with new hires at Holiday, Valentine, Easter seasons) and have observed. that when we have an influx of personnel, we go from zero roach activity to regular sightings. This is why I felt that the employees were a vehicle for the pests. Fortunately, the break room has been the only affected area. The production area is a good distance away. However, I am still concerned of the production area being affected. We do have an outside PC contractor that comes in weekly unless we have an issue, like the roaches. In those cases, we arrange for increased visits.
We have conducted another hygeine trainiing session with our employees. Unfortunately, due to our size/space, we cannot provide lockers for all of the employees. I know this is an issue, we've been aware of it for a while. Its just not something the company can accomodate at this time. This is why i was hoping I could somehow curb the problem by asking employees not to bring in unnecessary items.
I had the same problem at my facility. We are a small operation with 20 or so full time employees and hire more right before harvest. I had an issue with roaches when we first hired new people in their breakroom. Our PC guy said it was because they were probably being brought from home in their personal belongings. That was the only area we had an issue. Once I had our PC guy come and do a hygiene training and PC training, the issue was fixed.
I can tell you that it is entirely possible those little bastards are being brought in with your employees.
I won't tell you know I know that.
No seriously I will. I lived in some crappy apartments in the "bad part of town" in Norfolk VA and I saw one crawl out of my things on ship. I killed the hell out of him but if I saw one there is always the possibility that there were more than that one.
They get into everything. I used to have them in my DVD cases, my electronics... I literally had to clean out my computer multiple times and there were some in my laptop.
It's most likely, unless you live in a high cockroach location, one person is bringing them in but once you have them they are really hard to get rid of.
And I will add that employee most likely knows (s)he has a cockroach problem at home. It's disgusting and it's not something people want to talk about. I don't know how many I killed in those apartments... but it never mattered. The cats ate them. I sprayed them. It never ended.
I can tell you that it is entirely possible those little bastards are being brought in with your employees.
I won't tell you know I know that.
No seriously I will. I lived in some crappy apartments in the "bad part of town" in Norfolk VA and I saw one crawl out of my things on ship. I killed the hell out of him but if I saw one there is always the possibility that there were more than that one.
They get into everything. I used to have them in my DVD cases, my electronics... I literally had to clean out my computer multiple times and there were some in my laptop.
It's most likely, unless you live in a high cockroach location, one person bringing them in but once you have them they are really hard to get rid of.
And I will add that employee most likely knows (s)he has a cockroach problem at home. It's disgusting and it's not something people want to talk about. I don't know how many I killed in those apartments... but it never mattered. The cats ate them. I sprayed them. It never ended.
Think they can survive ground zero.
Think they can survive ground zero.
No. TBH they are not as hardy as many people think. We had issues with them for about 2 years after we left that garbage apartment. After we moved back to NY most of our belongings lived in a NY State storage unit and they did not survive the cold... or they all packed their bags and moved out to someone else's home. :off_topic:
However in a decent temp facility even if you have your employees have a storage room for their belongings you are going to have issues with roaches. This issue isn't going to go away if you give that employee a locker.
I have seen the wonders of boric acid for cockroaches, and I'm a believer. So are many other people. If used properly, it works like a charm. I worked in an old building in the worst part of Baltimore, and they put boric acid under cabinets. We went from roaches crawling out of everywhere including the wall phones to not seeing any in about 6 months. It was astonishing.
Article on how to use boric acid properly.
http://www2.ca.uky.e...facts/ef614.asp
Martha
However in a decent temp facility even if you have your employees have a storage room for their belongings you are going to have issues with roaches. This issue isn't going to go away if you give that employee a locker.
Completely agree.