Safer Work Environments Through Bird and Pest Management

By Jennifer Brumfield, Board Certified Entomologist

Anyone involved in the industry knows that facility managers have a lot on their plates. These highly stressful jobs require juggling the demands of a variety of maintenance areas, managing many custodial and maintenance employees, being on call, and handling emergencies, among many other responsibilities. One of the most important roles of a facility manager is providing a safe workplace for employees. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, this includes providing personal protective equipment (such as gloves, masks, and ear plugs) as needed, using safe chemicals with proper ventilation, and correcting any safety risks that may arise.

However, there’s an often-unseen element of workplace and employee safety that frequently gets overlooked: pest and bird control. By acknowledging the different types of pests that are common in commercial facilities, as well as the risks they present and how to prevent and treat them, facility managers can help protect employees (and their buildings) while ensuring a healthier, safer, and more productive work environment.

Common pests in commercial buildings

Customers, employees, and visitors are constantly traveling in and out of a commercial facility. This is good for business, but unfortunately, high levels of foot traffic can lead to the presence of pests and birds. Some common pests you might experience in your facility are:

• Cockroaches: Whether it’s an American, German, or Oriental cockroach, these insects can grow up to two inches long and carry 33 types of bacteria, six types of parasitic worms, and seven kinds of human pathogens. Even worse, they like to reside in healthcare, food processing, warehousing/manufacturing, and office facilities, so nearly every industry is at risk of experiencing this pest.
• Bed bugs: Known for being incredibly resilient and hard to get rid of, bed bugs are every facility manager’s worst nightmare. They hitch a ride in on clothing or in bags, and once present in your building, they reproduce quickly.
• Ants: Species such as carpenter and pavement ants may seem like nothing more than a nuisance, but in large numbers, they can be a big problem for facility managers. Fortunately, they usually don’t present a hazard to human health, but they often live in massive colonies of more than 50,000 that can lead to severe structural damage in a facility.
• Birds and geese: While birds and geese rarely find themselves inside a building, they like to congregate around office buildings and warehousing/manufacturing facilities, which can lead to employee health concerns and structural damage over time. In addition, their droppings can be a health hazard and even a slip-and-fall issue.
• Rodents, like rats and mice: No matter how secure you think your building may be, rodents can squeeze through crevices a fraction of their size. They multiply quickly, climb vertically, and can transmit 35 diseases, either directly or indirectly. So, it’s best to keep these furry pests out of your facility.

Risks that pests and birds bring to a facility

Employees may find pests such as insects, birds, and rodents distracting when trying to do their jobs, but they can also lead to serious health issues, structural damage, and reputational harm:

• Health hazards: As mentioned earlier, cockroaches and rodents can transmit more than 30 types of bacteria and disease. Similarly, birds carry 60 human pathogens, and their droppings can promote the growth of certain funguses that lead to severe respiratory diseases. Bed bug infestation can also cause mental health struggles for employees and problems for your business because of it. Employees may call in to work to avoid the bed bugs and insist on having inspections done at their own home (on your dime) to make sure they didn’t bring any bugs home with them.
• Facility damage: Insects, birds, and rodents alike can cause structural damage to your facility. Carpenter ants tunnel and chew through wood to create nests, while pavement ants nest in the soil under concrete and asphalt. These behaviors weaken the wood and cause soil to settle and sag, potentially leading to cracks in a building’s foundation. Rats gnaw to wear down ever-growing teeth, and if they chew on electrical wires, it can increase the risk of fire. Finally, bird and geese droppings contain acids and chemicals that corrode materials. Geese in particular like to feast on the grass around your facility (up to two pounds a day!), impacting not only the aesthetics of your building, but leading to costly landscaping bills.
• Reputational harm: No one wants to see pests when visiting your business or facility, and unfortunately, it only takes one sighting to severely damage a reputation. In the age of social media, a bed bug or rodent infestation in particular can cause major harm to your bottom line. Even the simple ant can give the illusion of your facility being dirty.

Pest mitigation tactics

Whether you want to prevent a pest issue or address an existing problem, there are several tactics you can take to help protect your facility:

• Preventive methods: Preventing a pest problem is one of the most important ways to avoid an infestation. Identifying entry points and sealing them off, prioritizing hygiene and sanitation (such as quickly removing trash and sitting water), and frequently deep cleaning and disinfecting your facility can go a long way in remaining pest free.
• Bring in pest control experts: Unfortunately, not all pest problems can be avoided, and sometimes you need to turn to professionals to mitigate the issue. A local pest control company can provide professional sanitation and exclusion methods, bed bug canines and proactive treatment, and humane methods to get birds back in nature like exclusion netting/mesh, ledge guards, and tension wires. By partnering with the experts, you can rest assured that your facility is protected.

Facility managers have a lot going on, and pest and bird control might seem like one more thing to handle. However, by familiarizing yourself with the common pests that might affect your facility, as well as the risks and mitigation tactics available, you can get back to making sure your employees are safe and your facility is operating smoothly.