Are you in the hospitality industry? Do you know the importance of pest control? Find out in our guide to learn the basics you need to follow!
If you are a part of the hospitality industry, you will know how important pest control is.
Cleaning every day is essential to keep pesky pests away. Also, you will need to conduct regular pest control to not go against the law. For this, you will require a professional pest control expert with a pest control license.
And this applies to schools, restaurants, offices, medical clinics, factories, hotels, universities, airports and food franchises. In short, any place that sees perishable and non-perishable goods needs to take adequate pest control measures.
But why is it so important? Dive in to know all about it!
Why Is Pest Control Important In Hospitality?
Hospitality sectors handle the storage of a lot of food. To store food several officials are responsible for transporting it, storing it, and maintaining a clean environment. They risk contamination if they don’t do their job well or leave the food open.
Plus, open food items can attract pests and contaminate all the food in the storage unit. Hence, pest control is crucial to keep the food safe and to ensure that contaminated food is immediately cleaned up. If any insect is spotted, it is necessary to call for pest control services immediately.
Australia, in particular, has strict pest control codes under the Food Standard code. This requires every business to take reasonable measures to keep pests away from food storage premises and eradicate pests’ growth in such units.
To follow these guidelines strictly, you will need to:
1. Monitor The Area
You will have to spot and keep watch on any sign of infestation. This means regular monitoring of the area by officials specially hired for the job.
2. Identify The Source Of Infestation
Once officials have spotted the infestation’s source, it must be removed immediately. To do so, you can call pest control services and show them the major spots. They will then check all the other units and ensure the entire area is free from pests.
3. Maintaining Records
Keep a record of the number of times your storage units, shops or restaurants have been infested and take adequate measures to prevent such instances. You can create a checklist for pest control and then make additional notes on it if there are new developments.
Tips To Remember
1. Hiring
Before hiring a pest control service, always check if it does a good job. To do this, you can look it up online to check the reviews left by old customers, which should tell you about the pest control services. If you own a restaurant, then pest control will impact your business as people always prefer hygienic places.
Imagine having a cockroach run across the floor when there are customers around! It can immediately close down your business; hence, you should never take it lightly.
2. Keeping The Area Clean
If you own a food business, you must ensure that the workers eat in the kitchen or a proper dining room. Do not eat near the storage units, and advise workers the same, as any particle of food can attract pests to the area. Additionally, you must remove food waste from all places as soon as it’s spotted.
Also, if you own a hotel, ensure prepared food is removed from all rooms after meal time. Then get officials to clean the area and sanitise it to prevent any growth of pests. In case of cooked food storage, always use air-tight containers and disinfect the area around them regularly.
On top of that, if there are fridges in the unit, you must thoroughly clean them monthly to keep pests away. Applicable for the Australian food units, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) must be implemented to ensure the complete safety of food items.
The Importance of Pest Control In Hospitality
When pest control professionals arrive, they will check around the grills, stoves and all cooking appliances. Likewise, the dishwasher and the area below the sink will be checked, as these are the major areas where pests breed. If your factory or restaurant has a lot of crates or boxes, they will also be checked and removed if necessary.
In addition, these services will include looking inside crevices, cracks and cavities for pests, spraying them and then sealing them to prevent further build-up.
So, ensure you take the help of professionals from time to time to keep your hospitality business booming and flourishing. And do some research so that you can choose one within your budget.