A workplace pest plan starts with a survey of the premises: the loading doors, the service openings, the roof edge and the spaces staff do not use. UMass names office buildings and warehouses among the overwintering sites, so the plan lists them, seals them in season and records each one for the manager.
Key takeaways
- UMass Extension names office buildings and warehouses as overwintering sites.
- A plan starts with a survey of the premises, not with a treatment.
- Loading doors, service openings and the roof edge are the usual entries.
- The building manager agrees access, and staff are told when the walk reaches their area.
- The plan is seasonal: sealing before the cold, a spring check and a record.
- Each building on a site has its own list and its own report.
Why a workplace needs its own plan
A workplace has spaces a house does not: loading bays, service ducts, suspended ceilings and roof edges. A plan written for a house misses them, so a workplace gets a plan of its own.
UMass Extension names office buildings and warehouses among the places where brown marmorated stink bugs overwinter. That is the reason a workplace is walked as a building with its own list, rather than as a set of rooms in a house.
A plan also gives the manager a record to show the building owner, the insurer or the staff. The record lists what was checked, what was sealed and what remains, and it is dated.
The premises survey
The survey walks the whole building and the yard, and lists each entry by its position. It is done before any sealing, so that the list is complete.
The survey covers the outside walls, the roof edge, the loading doors and the service openings, then the inside, including the stock rooms, the offices and the spaces above the ceilings where access allows. Each entry is marked and listed by its position.
Spaces that cannot be reached are listed as not checked. The manager can arrange access for those spaces, and the second visit covers them.
Loading doors and service openings
A loading door is one of the largest openings in a workplace, and its seal and threshold are checked first. Service openings for cables, ducts and pipes are checked next.
The seal at each loading door is checked for wear and for a gap at the threshold. A door that is used many times a day can lose its seal faster than a house door, so the seal is listed for replacement at the next planned work.
Service openings are walked from inside and outside. A duct, a cable run or a drain that passes through a wall is an entry, and each is recorded with its size and position.
The roof edge and the spaces staff do not use
The roof edge, the top of the walls and the spaces above suspended ceilings are the places staff rarely see, and the walk gives them the same care as the public rooms.
Where the roof meets the wall, a gap at the flashing or the top plate is a route in. Where access allows, the space above a suspended ceiling is walked from a safe point, and the openings into it are listed.
Where a roof cannot be walked safely, the list says so and the access is arranged with the right equipment, not forced on the day.
Staff, access and the working day
The walk is timed to fit the working day. Staff are told when the walk reaches their area, and stock and equipment are not disturbed.
Ask the manager to name the person who will give access to each area. Where the walk reaches a stock room or a server space, the manager tells the technician what must not be moved.
A walk through working areas is arranged at a quiet point in the day, and the report notes any area that needed to be cleared for access, so the manager knows what was touched.
Seasonal sealing and the spring check
Sealing is done in the weeks before the cold, and a spring check looks for openings the winter has widened. Each season has its own entries on the plan.
The autumn sealing covers the loading doors, the roof edge and the service openings found in the survey. Materials that are not carried on the day are ordered, and the entries waiting for them are marked on the list.
The spring check is planned in the same way. It looks for openings that have opened and for entries that were not sealed in autumn, and it adds them to the plan.
Records and reports
Each building has its own report: the date, the entries found, the entries sealed and the entries still open. The owner keeps the reports, and the manager reads them before each season.
A report for a multi-building site is kept by building, with the shared service runs listed under each building they enter. The owner can see which building needs the next visit.
Photographs of sealed entries, taken from the same spot, help the next survey compare like with like. They are kept with the report.
What to ask the company before the plan starts
Ask for the business name, the applicator’s name and the licence details on request. Ask for the survey to be written down, the plan to be dated, and the second visit to be planned in advance.
Ask whether the survey will cover the roof edge, the loading doors and the spaces above the ceilings. Ask how entries that cannot be reached will be recorded. Ask who will hold the reports and how the manager will receive them.
The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is named as the licensing body in a secondary study guide, and the details are to be verified on mass.gov. The check is made before the plan is agreed.
Setting the schedule with the manager
The schedule is agreed with the manager before the first walk. It sets the survey date, the sealing dates and the spring check, so that the business can plan around them.
A schedule written down in advance is easier to keep than a visit arranged at short notice. The manager gets one date for the survey, one for the sealing and one for the spring check, with the access each one needs.
The schedule is reviewed when the building changes use. A new loading door, a new service run or a change of tenant changes the list, and the plan is updated to match.
Working with stock, food and equipment
Where the business stores stock, food or equipment, the walk moves only what it must, and the manager tells the technician what must not be moved or opened.
Food storage and stock rooms have their own rules for handling, and the technician follows the manager’s instruction on them. Equipment that cannot be moved is walked around, and the report notes the area it blocked.
The walk does not open sealed stock or read its contents. It checks the walls and the openings around the stock, and it leaves the stock as it was found.
The report for the business owner
The report for the business is written for the owner, not only the technician. It says what was checked, what was sealed, what waits and what the plan asks the owner to arrange.
The owner needs the report to show the insurer, the landlord or a new tenant what has been done. A dated report that lists each entry and its status is the document that serves that purpose best.
The report also tells the owner which entries are the owner’s to arrange and which belong to a tenant or a contractor. Those lines are written in plain words.
Common problems in a workplace plan
The plans that go wrong usually do so for three reasons: the survey missed a space, the access was not agreed, or the sealing was done once and never checked again.
A survey that does not reach the roof edge or the space above a ceiling is incomplete, and the list shows the gap. A plan that lists those spaces as not checked gives the manager a clear next step.
Access that is not agreed in advance delays the walk and shortens it. An agreed schedule avoids that, and the manager signs off each date before the walk.
Sealing that is not checked again goes stale. A spring check is part of the plan from the start, so the list is kept current across the year.
Keeping the plan current
The plan is reviewed when the building changes use or when a season ends, so the list reflects the building as it is on the day.
A new loading door, a new service run or a change of tenant changes the list. The manager tells the technician, and the plan is updated at the next visit, with the change dated.
At the end of each season the manager receives a short summary of the open entries, so that the plan for the next season starts from the current state of the building.
Frequently asked questions
Is a warehouse treated differently from an office?
Yes. A warehouse has loading doors and service openings that take heavy use, and an office has ceilings and ducts that need access. The survey covers both, and each has its own part of the list.
Who agrees the access to the building?
The building manager or owner. The walk does not enter a space without that person’s agreement, and any space not reached is listed as not checked.
Will the plan disrupt the business?
The walk is timed for a quiet part of the working day where possible, and the report notes any area that was cleared for access. The sources here give no fixed time, so the plan is agreed with the manager.
Sources
- UMass Extension, brown marmorated stink bug material (extension.umass.edu)
- Massachusetts state government, pesticide licensing and the Department of Agricultural Resources (mass.gov)
This guide is general information for Worcester County homeowners, not a substitute for an on-site inspection. Prices are estimates. See our disclaimer.