Pest management | PestAware
Maybe you've spotted a rat in your garden or discovered a wasp nest in your shed. Perhaps you suspect your favourite furniture is infested with biting insects. Might your company stockroom be rife with unwelcome mice?
If so, you need to think about pest control. And here's why:
Public health pests have the potential to:
- contaminate your home or workplace
- spread diseases to yourself and family
- damage your belongings
- ruin stocks of food, property, and reputations
If you followed a fly for a day, you wouldn’t want to eat for a week
Our National Survey 2016 suggests that the public health pests you're most likely to encounter in the UK are:
- rats (186,192 call-outs a year)
- mice (80,375 call-outs a year)
- wasps (77,811 call-outs a year)
- other insects, including flies (32,570 call-outs a year)
- ants (16,464)
- bed bugs (11,829 call-outs a year)
- cockroaches (5,904 call-outs a year)
- birds (3,799 call-outs a year)
And this is by no means an exhaustive list. You can find most UK public health pests in our A-Z of Pests.
So if you have a pest problem, it's fair to say you're not alone.
People often feel embarrassed about home or workplace pest issues, but these pests have been plaguing humans since the beginning of time.
With people living closer together, fewer bin collections and many local councils stopping their pest control services, there are good reasons why you might be noticing pests when you never have before.
That doesn't mean you should ignore the problem though.
Why do we control pests?
Contamination and disease
Insects, rodents and birds can easily contaminate food and work surfaces with their excreta, hairs or body parts. These are potential pathogens that spread disease.
Parasites carried by pest species (such as fleas) can also be passed on to humans causing illness and stress - for example, that's how the outbreaks of bubonic plague are still transmitted in Madagascar.
Safeguard your property, business and clients
Rodents can inflict an enormous amount of structural damage. They can cause severe fires by gnawing away the insulation around electrical cables, floods by puncturing pipes and even death by chewing through gas pipes. The insurance sector has estimated that rodent damage to wiring is responsible for 25% of all electrical fires in buildings.
Insect infestations can decimate foodstuffs with whole consignments being rejected and finished goods recalled if insect contamination is present. Insects can block machines and ruin whole batches of animal feed.
Bird droppings can damage buildings and cause slip or trips, leaving property owners open to prosecution. Nests block chimney flues and gutters, as well as attracting other pest species that thrive in bird droppings.
Protect your reputation and stay the right side of the law
To meet your requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, you need to protect your business from pests.
Your reputation and business may never recover from a pest infestation as prosecutions and fines regularly cause media attention. The loss of consumer confidence could ultimately force you to close.
The Penalties for failure to comply can be severe
Choosing a pest controller
You might have the image of a Victorian London rat catcher, rifle in hand and grubby from a day's work in the sewers in mind. That's not what modern pest control is.
Believe it or not, the industry has come a long way since then. In fact - we're just like any other professional trade. A professional pest management technician has access to the education, training, products, experience, and know-how to control a pest species. Top of the list is animal welfare, pest controllers only ever control pests where necessary and ensure humane treatment.
Yes - like any trade - there are some cowboys out there, however, you can make sure you're using a trusted pest control company by selecting a BPCA member.
By choosing one of our members you:
- know that you're getting a qualified technician coming out to you
- can be sure that the company have their insurance in place
- know that the company will be working legally and to our strict codes of conduct.
BPCA members can deal with any domestic and commercial pest control work. BPCA helps thousands of individuals and businesses find a trusted pest control contractor every year.
You can find one of our members using our Find a pest controller tool or by calling 01332 294 288.
Source: PestAware