39 replies to this topic

[paultarmstrong]

Make sure you choose a Professional Pest Control provider. By choosing a British Pest Control Association (BPCA) member company you are ensuring that the contractor is able to provide a thoroughly professional and consistent service.

Before being accepted as a member of the BPCA, organisations must meet a number of criteria, namely;
Staff must be adequately trained in the identification and assessment of pest problems and in the selection and application of safe, effective and appropriate control measures.
Members must demonstrate a high standard in their business systems, record keeping, stores, vehicles and procedures.
Members must carry adequate public, products and employers liability insurance.
Companies must demonstrate a business track record before their application can be accepted.
All members must conform to the Association's Code of Practice.

Don't take an unnecessary risk. Choose a BPCA member.

Paul Armstrong

[Simon]

Couldn't agree more Paul - thanks for joining the forum, it's good to have a pest control export on board.

You can find a full list of BPCA member pest control servicing companies in the Saferpak Supplier Directory:

http://www.saferpak....ol_services.htm

Regards,
Simon

[mikelond]

We've been using Terminix, and have found them to be extremely helpful, efficient and reliable.
Particularly proactive with regard to advice on relocation of bait points, insectocutors etc.
More than happy to recommend.

[Charles Chew]

In the context of achieving reliable and accurate reporting to support a HACCP procedure in a Pest Control Program, how would we know that the reporting format provided by your pest control provider is sufficient to do just that.

Is there an audit trail left behind for the possibility of a risk analysis towards a potential recall issue where the chemical pesticides applied by your provider could well be the source of a chemical hazard contamination?

It is important to have a complete MSDS of the pesticides used as vital information in a bait station plan while contributing towards meeting social compliance in the safety of our own personnel.

Pest Control is one of the few key areas in a HACCP Plan that relies on the integrity and ability of an external provider. It is therefore necessary that we have sufficient knowledge to ensure that non-compliance does not occur from
mistakes of others.

Implementing a food safety plan is relatively easy but maintaining a sound plan is the key to a dynamic system that is reliable.

charles chew

[Simon]

Just for interest: Ten die at banquet; rat toxin suspected

Simon

[horsenailbucket]

I once audited an Italinan food packaging supplier and their pest control was mainly sort of tea bags filled with poison, most of which had split - we don't use them anymore.

Don't want to preach unneccesarily, but Forward Pest Control has been a fantastic and inexpensive company for us.

Cheers!

[yorkshire]

I agree that any Pest Control Contract should be a BPCA member but do not agree that this ensures good service. You need to keep an eye on any contractor to ensure they are giving the right service. Check each year that they have visited you the contracted amount of times. If they have not, ask for a refund and threaten to look elsewhere. I have worked in factories that have been serviced by the main players in Pest Control and have had some terrrible service. Look out if your service technician has his own mug in the canteen (i.e. he is on site so often that problems are not being sorted out).
I now use a small contractor (BPCA) with only 8 staff but I have never had better service and have had no complaints from BRC auditors.

[Simon]

Good advice Yorkshire.

I don't know if it's been mentioned before but it's also a good idea to accompany the technician and the field biologist during at least one of their visits each year.

Keeps em on their toes.

Simon

[SAM]

On a pest control issue. Is it really necessary to change the bulbs in an electric fly killer on an annual basis?

I would have thought that there would be something that could monitor the light output of them!!

Nadine

[Charles Chew]

Nadine,

When you first purchased your electric fly killer, look for the details on the warranty that says "effective bulb life span" or equivalent. The effective bulb life span is about a year and it is essential that you record the date of first use to determine the replacement date. Oh yes! do not be tricked by the "blue light".....the real function of the blue light is to attract the flies NOT to kill it.

Also, never place your electric fly killer in the production area because when the flies get "busted or roasted", the entire guts of the fly get sparked and blown apart and gets drifted through the air into your food together with the "microbes"

Charles Chew

[rheath]

Nadine,

I'm afraid that an annual change is needed - I would also recommend that the change happens around March / April time so that they are most effective in the breeding season / hotter weather.

Regards

Richard

[yorkshire]

Richard is right

Our pest controller has a meter to test the amount of UV coming off the units and has found tubes are effective for approximately 15 months. This means that you could save one years tube cost in every 5! But it is ideal to have maximum strength in the Spring so this isn't advisable.

One other point is that auditors look for the certain things during audits and proof that tubes are changed every 12 months is one of them. You must be 100% confident that you can defend any change from the norm .

PS I'm not saying that the auditors are always right.

[Charles Chew]

Just sharing a viewpoint on general Pest Control Approach where chemical applications are usually practised and often a source of chemical hazards in food.

You may want to consider a couple of non-chemical options for Pest Control Maintenance:
1. Tighten the Good Hygiene Practices against the ever presence of food scraps, dirty drains, smells and whatever attracts these pests. This basically keeps the workplace clean and void of reasons for pests to be around.
2. Pests look for places where food and water are readily available as well as where places are damn, cool and dark. Ensure the warehouse is rid of these ideal conditions.
3. Maintain Good Storage Practices by using the 1 - 1 1/2 feet wall-to-pellet clearance which should be painted "White" or Yellow".
4. Most important of all, consider using Rat Traps, practise prevention versus short term eradication for ants and cockroaches by using diluted vinegar to spray on areas where sighted, seek out harborages areas and be watchful ofseasonal breeding cycles.

Where you have a medium pest crisis for cockroaches, you may consider using tabletised boric acid. However, where you have a severe pest crisis, you will need to call the Pest Control Man.

Would anyone out there wish to put these methods on practise? I believe the results are important for all and we should consider a recording program to study the effectiveness and pest trending over a epriod of say 6 months.

Cheers
Charles Chew

[Tony-C]

Good advice Yorkshire.

I don't know if it's been mentioned before but it's also a good idea to accompany the technician and the field biologist during at least one of their visits each year.

Keeps em on their toes.

Simon

Agreed, it is also a good idea to follow up with regular checks of your own. Our devices are dated on the inside by the technician and field biologist when checked so I regularly check baits on my factory/perimeter tours to ensure the bait/device has been checked, there is fresh bait and no sign of activity.

Regards,

Tony

[cazyncymru]

Agreed, it is also a good idea to follow up with regular checks of your own. Our devices are dated on the inside by the technician and field biologist when checked so I regularly check baits on my factory/perimeter tours to ensure the bait/device has been checked, there is fresh bait and no sign of activity.

Regards,

Tony

Don't forget you need to do a risk assessment to demonstrate how you chose your pest control checking frequency for BRC!

i have used Check Pest Services for the past few years. They are excellent.

caz x

[moose1976]

Hi im new to the forum so please go easy on me.

i wouldnt just stick to the bpca as they tend to be for the larger companies it might be worth while checking out the npta and also the ukpco both have similar standards

[Tony-C]

Hi im new to the forum so please go easy on me.

i wouldnt just stick to the bpca as they tend to be for the larger companies it might be worth while checking out the npta and also the ukpco both have similar standards

Maybe this is your opportunity to tell our members more about these associations/organisations then.

Regards,

Tony

[moose1976]

The UKPCO

The UK Pest Controllers Organisation is a consortium of Independent Pest Control companies dedicated to improving standards of training and professionalism within the Pest Control industry. We will achieve this by leading by example. Our members are recognised as some of the most highly skilled and qualified in the industry, this dedication shows the standards that can be achieved throughout the industry.

The UKPCO look to assist in the training and development of individuals and businesses new to the industry assisting and guiding them in the formative years of their careers, safeguarding both the potential client and the environment from poor practice, incompetence and untrained practitioners. This will ensure that standards continue to rise and the industry develops and receives the recognition it deserves.

By working together and setting achievable entry levels for membership to the UKPCO and requiring the membership to update their pest management skills by complying with the demands of Continual Professional Development via BASIS Prompt, the consortium seeks to persuade the industry and the legislative authorities that pest management is essential and needs to be recognised as a skilled profession protecting Public Health.

UKPCO members will seek to assist clients from outside their geographical area by referring enquiries to other more locally placed members. Where clients have a specific or complex pest management requirement, referral to a specialist amongst the membership will ensure that all enquiries are dealt with by the most suitable member.
UKPCO members will work together by offering emergency, sickness and holiday cover for other UKPCO members in their immediate work areas when needed, guaranteeing our customers continuity of cover at all times.

As a consortium, UKPCO members are in a position to offer multi-site clients the choice of using independent, highly trained and motivated local pest control companies working to a consistent high standard to provide for their pest control needs.

The NPTA




More about the NPTA
Established in May of 1993, we have now entered our eighteenth (18th) year of operation and are always open to new memberships from those who are employed within the UK Pest Control Industry either as individual Pest Control Technicians (PCT's), as pest control servicing businesses within the private sector or those who work within Local Government for District, Borough, City or Unitary Councils.

Our current membership database covers:-

• An individual with an interest in the Pest Control Industry.
• A Pest Control Servicing Company.
• A business manufacturing, selling or distributing materials and equipment for the pest control industry.
• A local authority, either as a whole or perhaps the Pest Control Section or Division.
• A college or University providing training and education for the Industry.

We have always prided ourselves on being able to help and advise those at the working face of the Industry as well as assisting them to manage their businesses, so as to ensure we all conduct our businesses in a professional and business-like manner. If NPTA House doesn't know the answer "we know a person who does"!

The NPTA is managed by a Management Board currently consisting of eight members who are voluntary individuals all employed or with a special interest in the Pest Control Industry. The Board has a wide range of experience in all areas of pest control (both the private sector and local government area), environmental health and field sports. This fund of knowledge is available to all members, either on a personal basis or through our quarterly publication "Today’s Technician". This quarterly journal, freely available to all members, is packed with up-to-date information, technical items, humorous stories and more.

if you are a BRC site NPTA accredited pest controllers will be perfectly fine with the BRC auditors, also m&s have adopted the accreditation to run alongside BPCA membership.

May be worth taking a look if your having any issues with your current pest controller

hope this is of any use

stewart

[Tony-C]

Don't forget you need to do a risk assessment to demonstrate how you chose your pest control checking frequency for BRC!

caz x

The contracted Pest Controller would do that - I don't have a dog and bark, not very often anyway !

Regards,

Tony

[Ptinid]

The Pest Controller should be providing you with Risk Assessments on frequency of visits, reasons for baiting regimes externally and internally, and also specific risk assessments for the course of actions to eradicate/control significant pest issues, especially SPI and cockroaches.

WIth regard to the initial question on chosing a PC supplier, I agree with most of what has been written, but would add that when looking for a new supplier (or simply testing the market), try to get some decent references. Knowing how well a company does in a couple of sites - particularly sites which are relevant to yours - gives a deal of insight into how well they will perform for you.

The businesses in our industry range from one man operations to multi-million, global corporations. There are so many to choose from, and the trick is to reduce the risks of changing. With modern audit pressures many current companies are simply not able to provide the level of expertise and back-up that a food producer needs. Asking for references (and then checking them) reduces the risk of audit fails from pest control.

[Tony-C]

Asking for references (and then checking them) reduces the risk of audit fails from pest control.

I do question the value of references, maybe it does demonstrate some due diligence, do you think the Pest controller will put you in contact with someone that is going to give them a bad reference?

[Ptinid]

I do question the value of references, maybe it does demonstrate some due diligence, do you think the Pest controller will put you in contact with someone that is going to give them a bad reference?

Certainly, most companies will give people who like them as referees. But challenge them by asking for more! If you ask for, say 5, relatively close in nature or geography, any company that can supply that must be doing something right.

I'd also suggest that checking the reference is critical, and should be done in the form of a telephone conversation with the referee.

[Tony-C]

I'd also suggest that checking the reference is critical, and should be done in the form of a telephone conversation with the referee.

Desk chair management is the biggest problem in the food industry.

If you think you need a reference go and have a look.

Regards,

Tony

[FLAVOUR_I]

Certainly, most companies will give people who like them as referees. But challenge them by asking for more! If you ask for, say 5, relatively close in nature or geography, any company that can supply that must be doing something right.

I'd also suggest that checking the reference is critical, and should be done in the form of a telephone conversation with the referee.

Asking the local authorties that are reponsible for checking the food hygiene worked for me. They actually had a list of companies they would recommend
.

Regards
FLAVOUR_I

[Tony-C]

Asking the local authorties that are reponsible for checking the food hygiene worked for me. They actually had a list of companies they would recommend
Regards
FLAVOUR_I

I am very surprised by this as local authorities in the UK prosecute companies for poor pest control arrangements. So if they have recommended a Pest Controller it would be difficult as far as I can see how they could prosecute unless it they could show neligence in ignoring the pest controller's recommendations.

Regards,

Tony