The first step in any pest control process is SANITATION. Employees often bring lunches to work or snack throughout the day. Do you see wrappers on the floor? Are there crumbs on tables or floors that haven’t been swept up? Do your employees leave coffee cups or dirty dishes in the company sink? Is the trash removed daily?
It is everyone’s job in the office to make sanitation a priority
Having a designated area for eating and food would be a good first step. Encourage employees to clean up after themselves. Have company trash emptied each day. If that is not possible make sure the food remains are sealed in plastic bags to prevent pests from breeding. Clean lunch rooms with a food source removed will prevent mice and rats from invading the area.
Piles of papers and boxes can make a perfect habitat or cockroaches, mice, rats and paper lice. Cockroaches especially like to make their breeding homes inside corrugated box walls. There are many hiding places for pests in an unclean office.
Another source of pests are overwatered house plants. Although they liven up a working environment, the moist damp soil can be a breeding ground for fungus gnats. Although they rarely cause major harm, they are extremely annoying. If your employees are bringing fruit into the office, the sugar in overripe fruit is an attractant for gnats. You and your employees can be so disrupted by these pests that it can affect productivity. There are some very realistic artificial plants on the market you can replace the real plants with.
Ants often enter the building during periods where the food sources outside are slim. The intense flooding in Houston has moved ants to places where they previously were not located. They can make their way indoors through cracks in the doors or windows. There are certain types of ants that “bud” when sprayed with repellents. It is best to have a trained Pest Control Operator identify the ants and the source of ants since they must be treated differently depending on the type of ant identified.
Read More: Pest Problems After Houston Flooding
If your business has a dumpster, be sure it is located at least 100 feet from a door. It should be on a concrete pad and cleaned periodically. If food waste is involved be sure it is in plastic bags and odor control is used. All sorts of pests are attracted dumpsters including wildlife such as opossums and raccoons. Outdoor bait stations can keep the mice and rat population under control.
Read More: Dumpster Etiquette: Keep Houston Pests on Their Best Behavior
These helpful hints can go a long way in keeping your work environment healthy and pest free.
