Purpose
To provide guidance and to establish procedures for Pest Technicians as they perform an initial service for clients of Good Earth Pest Company.
Safety and Health
Read and understand the current label of each pesticide or material being applied, paying special attention to label restrictions, and required personal protective equipment (PPE).
Materials and Equipment
- Backpack sprayer
- Web mop pole
- Rodent box
- Any other material that you may need
Procedure
- Park onsite and confirm street address to make sure that you are servicing the correct building(s).
- Clock in and review all documents (field sheet, tech notes, and service agreement) from the bid. You can also access the exclusion maps and notes in the documents section of Pestpac.
- Grab all necessary equipment needed to enter the home. Flashlight, boot covers, and any materials that you may need.
- Greet the client, introduce yourself, and address any concerns/immediate problems that they may have first. Once that is done, continue through the following steps to complete their exterior service.
- Web mop
Using your web mop pole circle the whole house brushing off any spider webs and old wasp/hornet nests. Pay special attention to lights and in the high peaks of the eves. Also, make sure you get the backside of the facia where it’s hard to see. If the house is especially tall, use the larger extension pole stored on top of your truck. Be sure to take mental note of any areas of particularly high pest activity. You will take this into account when servicing. You may also want to put it in your notes at the end of the service. - Locate the monitoring boxes
You will first want to locate all the rodent monitors. If you have any trouble locating them, check your location instructions and home services notes in the documents section on your handheld. As a licensed technician, it is your responsibility to make sure they are placed properly and securely. Also, take this time to make sure that they have stickers on top, are numbered inside the lid, and their location is noted in the location instructions on your handheld. - Service rodent monitoring boxes
With your rodent toolbox work your way around the house and service the rodent monitors. They may have yellow feeder blocks inside them from when they were placed by home services. Make sure to report any activity in your service notes. Make sure the box is clear of old bait and debris and place fresh active bait in the box, choosing the bait best suited the situation (see PS.105 exterior rodent baiting). Finally, before leaving each box make sure that the lid is closed securely. - Non-repellant perimeter treatment
Using your backpack sprayer apply a perimeter treatment around the footprint of the home. This is the foundation and an area extending out from it on the surrounding ground. Consult your label for these parameters. In the summer you can use Termidor to include carpenter ant elimination (PS-184), and for colder months use Advion WDG. Make sure to include all connected items like posts, fences, and ariel wires. When you are finished there should be no way a bug could gain access to the structure without crossing your application. This provides a “clearing out” effect for any ants that may be trafficking into the structure without locking them in. - Repellant treatment
Using your repellant backpack, you can now work your way around the house applying a repellant to the areas where other pests can harbor. You may treat around in the eves, behind downspouts, and around windows and lights. This will provide protection from spiders and wasps as well as other seasonal insects. Pay special attention to the areas that had shown particularly high activity when you were web mopping. You can also treat in front of doors to discourage crawling insects from entering. - Granular treatment (Optional)
If you are in an area that is known for high small ant activity, or the client mentions that they have had them in the past, it's not a bad idea to be proactive and apply a granular bait such as Niban around the house. It can be applied to most non-paved areas like planters, grass, gravel, and bushy areas. This will help crash the exterior population of ants and many other pests and decrease pest pressure on the house overall. - Finishing the service
Once you are finished with the application portion of the service you can put away your tools, log all your materials into your handheld and make any notes on your service. You are the first tech to be treating at this account, be sure that you update the location instructions with any pertinent information that the regular tech should know. Before you leave check-in with the client and let them know of anything they should be aware of and let them know you are done. If it was a particularly pleasant interaction be sure to send a review invite via the Podium app.
Comments
Have a Login?
Create a Login
Good Earth must approve your registration before you can see the SOPs.