A few weeks ago we covered the importance of having a strict pest control programme, both in your home and your food establishment. However, while visiting a client this week and going over their pest control programme, I realised that there are many business operators who have absolutely no idea what the responsibilities of their pest control operators are. Your pest control operators (PCOs) who service your food operation are great assets in protecting your facility, products and people from infestation of pests and subsequent contamination from biological and physical hazards. Consequently, we will be taking a look at some tasks that your PCO must perform upon visiting your facility.

1. To begin with, please ensure that you contract the services of a licensed PCO. They must provide evidence in the form of an updated copy of their pest control licence provided by the Pest Control Authority of Jamaica. Never use an individual or a company unable to provide you with this information.

2. Once your PCO is contracted for service, they must make an initial visit to your facility to tour all areas of your food processing plant — entire inner and outer perimeter of your facility — and make observations about signs of pest infestation, pest damage, surrounding landscape areas that could become harbourages, neighbouring buildings and property conditions, waterways and potential areas of entry and further infestation.

3. After the initial visit, a report must be provided to the company, which will state the findings of inspection with the recommendations for corrective and preventative actions. Never let a PCO lay bait traps and carry out pest treatment of your facility without doing a prior inspection. Recommendations post-inspection usually include: number and location of bait traps to be placed around facility, chemicals to be used, any additional pest treatment required, areas of building needing repair to prevent entry and infestation, frequency of follow-ups and possible process improvements that can prevent infestation such as waste disposal techniques and areas.

4. The food establishment usually provides a factory layout diagram to the PCO, although there are times when pest control companies may draft a factory layout diagram for their clients. This layout is very important as the PCO must provide a map of the location of bait traps; which must be numbered for easy identification and inspection during periodic visits.

5. After the bait traps are placed in the respective locations, there must be a schedule for visits from the PCO to monitor bait traps and carry out follow-up treatments. Notwithstanding this the facility must carry out its own internal monitoring and alert the PCO if any anomalies are seen. During these periodic visits the company must assign internal personnel to verify the activities of the PCO and ensure that corrective actions are noted.

6. I suggest that the food establishments pay close attention to the reports provided from the follow-up visits and their own internal monitoring reports. Don’t just allow the PCO to simply replace traps and spray areas each time they conduct a visit. Review your records on a monthly basis to see if there are trends in areas of pest presence and infestation and request a report from your PCO for recommendations to remedy potential risk areas.

7. Lastly, your PCO must provide you with a list of chemicals used in your facility, along with the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all chemicals used.