Your workspace is where you keep most of your important printed files and documents. The problem? They can easily be damaged by pests, costing you great money too. Besides property and asset damage, pests also carry diseases that can spread throughout the workplace. Your employees can get physically sick, affecting their productivity or performance.
Many businesses forget to prioritize workplace housekeeping and maintenance, and this negligence leads to pest infestation. The most common mistakes are snacking at work stations, not cleaning food debris, uncovered trash bins, and inconsistent housekeeping routines. If you’re currently looking to maintain a pest-free workplace, here are some habits you want to adapt to with your team.
1. Organize cluttered areas
It doesn’t matter if you’re the business owner or a staff member; you should focus on maintaining a clean office. Keeping everything organized, from documents to the entire work table, will prevent annoying pests from welcoming themselves into your office. Pests love cluttered spaces that they can inhabit or take shelter from. Involve everyone from the owner to the utilities.
You can also hire professional commercial cleaners to ensure every corner of the office is spotless. If you have a small team and plan to do the cleaning yourself, invest in cleaning items like disinfectant wipes, mop and bucket, and vacuum cleaner. Also, your office’s exterior should be clean as it’s the first area pests can infest. If you have a parking area outside, get rid of prune shrubs and trees.
2. Get an inspection done
Aside from professional cleaners, you’d also want to seek the help of a pest control service. These experts can properly check the office inside and out and seal off all the points of entry. Most pest control companies offer general inspections where they can confirm whether the pests are already in the building. If there’s already pest infestation, you’ll need to acquire a pest termination service.
Many pest control companies can eradicate different kinds of pests, such as termites, roaches, mosquitoes, wasps, and rodents. On average, a one-time control service can cost around $300 to $500. The costs may still depend on the needed treatment or the size of the area that should be treated.
3. Buy pest control essentials
There’s a variety of products you can use to prevent pest infestation in your office. For one, you can buy scented mosquito attractants to catch blood-sucking insects like yellow fever and Asian tiger mosquitoes. These products can imitate human scents to bait the insects. You can also get different types of cages to catch rats and mice. You can go for live or kill traps with one to two doors. Other types you can get include adhesive traps and light traps. You can also invest in insect repellents to keep your employees safe from getting insect-borne diseases. Lastly, opt for organic and natural options if you can. They are safer to use and not harmful to the environment as well.
4. Empty your trash cans
Many workspace setups use open trash bins as they are typically meant for just shredded documents and other paper scraps. The reality is, you can’t really monitor every trash bin in your employees’ work areas. They can use it to toss out food residue and even meal disposable packaging, which can invite pests like ants and rodents.
Regularly empty those trash cans by reminding your employees. If you have a cleaning and maintenance team, be sure they do it before the day ends. You can also set a schedule for the trash removal and post it where everyone can see it. Besides that, you can invest in trash bins with proper lids or covers.
5. Clean up food residue
If you have an office pantry or you’re allowing your team to eat on their workspaces, food residue will be your biggest problem. This can attract all kinds of pests like ants and rodents. Ask your people to only eat their meals or snacks in the break room or office kitchen. This can isolate food crumbs or spills and help you to clean them up easily. Remind your team to also practice eating clean and have plenty of paper towels on ready.
Use only trash cans with lids on these areas to reduce the smell of food. Moreover, practice proper food storage on your office pantry and tables to avoid contamination and keep pests away from the food. Encourage your employees to use tightly sealed containers, which pests cannot infiltrate or chew on.
Proper pest management will give you an office that’s clean and safe for your people to work on. Pests can affect not only your office’s look or your employees’ health and safety but also your entire operations. Regularly inspect your office to check on the level of pest infestation. Focus on high-risk areas and obtain a more intense pest control service.
