Pests, a wide variety of insects, bats, rodents, and birds can exploit many opportunities to find shelter, food and water in office buildings. Each pest has unique characteristics that allow it to exploit weak points in buildings, but which also give away its presence when infesting a building. These pests are commonly found in offices:
- Housefly
- Cockroaches
- Ants
- Bed bugs
- Fleas
- Rats and mice
- Birds
- Stored product insects
- Flies
Fly
A fly problem is easily identified by their hiding in office desks, cabinets and shelves. They can be seen by an unusually large number of adult flies seen in and around an office. The most common fly pests in offices are:
House flies: house flies and other filth flies can carry a wide range of disease-causing microorganisms such as Salmonella, E. coli, camplyobacter. They feed on any food material, including rotting meat, fruit and vegetables and faecal matter, picking up pathogens and carrying them to food and surfaces in office kitchens and desks where food is stored and eaten.
Fruit flies: They can be found around: garbage containers with rotting food — inside or outside offices over-ripe fruit, and some vegetables old drink bottles or other containers with sugary liquids in spills of sugary liquids that are not cleaned up, especially in cracks in wet floors drains with food waste
They are attracted by sweet, especially fermenting, liquids in fruit, vegetables and drinks. They only require small quantities to feed on and breed in.
Sciarid flies (fungus gnats): siarid flies can become a nuisance if there are plants in an office. Their larvae feed on the root hairs of young plants and the adults on algae and decaying plant matter. An infestation is encouraged by over watering plants, giving them suitable conditions for breeding. The adults are around 5mm long with long antennae and will fly around people sat at desks, but they do not bite.
Drain flies: these breed in biofilms that can build up in drains or other places in and around buildings that collect moist organic matter. They are regarded as harmless but can be a nuisance in large numbers
Chemical application has proved to be effective for pest control fumigation service for house fly and other flies.
Cockroaches
They are generally nocturnal so are unlikely to be seen during office hours unless disturbed. They can shelter in cracks and crevices in walls and floors, around pipes and wiring, inside equipment and machinery and hidden spaces that provide the right temperature and humidity. They can also inhabit drains and sewers and access buildings through the pipework. They are common in go downs, warehouses, hotels, and guest houses.
Signs of cockroaches are:
- Droppings and bodily secretions stain surfaces and leave a foul odour around infested areas, in food and packaging
- Egg cases
- Shed skins
- Live or dead insects
These may be in hidden areas under, behind or inside cupboards and desks or other office furniture, or even items such as toasters that accumulate food debris inside.
Chemical application has proved to be effective for pest control fumigation service for cockroach pest.
Fleas
Fleas are brought into a building by people, pets and pests. There are several types, which are specific to their favoured animal: cat, dog, bird, human and rat fleas. Fleas can be found in washroom moreso in lady sections with sanitary disposal bins that are left unattended. The trend is noticeable in offices, malls, schools, hospitals, etc. Each type of flea prefers its normal host but will attempt to bite other animals, including humans before dropping off.
The main signs of a flea infestation are:
- People reporting bites, especially near the ankles
- Live insects
- Flea droppings, which look like ground black pepper in carpets and on seating
- Flea eggs in carpets and on seating. They are about 0.5 mm long, oval and white, which makes them difficult to see
Chemical application has proved to be effective for pest control fumigation service for fleas pest.
Rats/ rodents
Rodents are prone to food handling section. This is the case for kitchen areas of offices, schools, malls, hospitals. Most warehouses and go downs are normally infested with rats/ rodents. There are multiple hazards from rodents including:
- Contamination along their trails and anywhere they visit with urine, droppings, and filth picked up from the environment
- Contamination of food and surfaces with pathogens causing a number of serious diseases, including salmonellosis, leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, Lyme disease, rat-bite fever
- Damage to buildings and fixtures, especially to wiring and electrical equipment. Brown rats can also cause extensive damage to sewer systems by burrowing
- Damage to food, containers, packaging
- Rodents carry parasites, including ticks, fleas, lice and mites that can infest buildings and are also vectors for many diseases
Chemical application has proved to be effective for pest control fumigation service for rats, bats and other rodents. Most organizations in Kenya with offices in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kakamega prefer engaging a professional fumigation pest control services company.
Ants
Ants can easily get into a building through any small gap in doors, windows, air vents, etc to forage for food and the odd one is unlikely to be a problem. However, if they are near where food is stored you don’t want it to escalate into an infestation. Signs of an infestation are:
- Large numbers of ants in a kitchen or food storage area
- Ant trails leading to areas with food. These will lead to a nest in the opposite direction, usually outside
- Ant nests next to the building or in the structure. Some ant species such as the invasive pharaoh ant are so small (1-2mm) that they can make a nest in any tiny space and can access food through the tiniest gaps in containers, cracks in walls, gaps round windows and doors, air vents, etc. They can also eat their way into packaging and make their nest inside it.
Chemical application has proved to be effective for pest control fumigation service for ants.
These are some of the steps that businesses can take to prevent pest infestations in offices:
- Clean kitchen areas frequently and clean up spills and leftover food around the office.
- Remove food waste from the building frequently.
- Clean throughout the offices regularly.
- Store garbage outside in pest proof containers, dispose of regularly and keep the area clean and free of debris.
- Train cleaning and maintenance staff to identify the signs of pests and potential entry points.
- Maintain the office building to prevent holes and gaps appearing in the structure that could be exploited by pests, including around door and window frames, pipes, cables and air vents, potential pest harborage places are eliminated.
- Keep doors shut when not in use.
- Identify any leaks in kitchens and washrooms and repair them as soon as possible.
- Periodical quality assure the cleaning regimes for your office premises, including kitchens, washrooms, store cupboards, floors, carpets, curtains, etc.
- Check office plants for pest insects periodically to stop them from spreading throughout the office.
- Implement a clear desk policy to deny small pests food and shelter.
- Encourage colleagues to report any pest sightings and advise them not to try and handle the situation themselves for their own and others’ health and safety.
- Issue regular communications (e.g. emails, notices, posters) to all colleagues about keeping the spaces they use clean and the procedure to report any pest sightings or other incidents that could pose as health risks.
Contact first class cleaning services
We are contracted to do fumigation pest control services in offices, medical clinics, hospitals, kitchens, private residences, malls, go downs, warehouses, hotels, guest houses, sports clubs, apartments, salon & SPA. Contact us on sales@firstclasscleaning.co.ke or call 0721867339
