ESTATE MAINTENANCE


play an important role in pest prevention. Here are a few things to be wary of for common pests: Rodents: Rats and mice have a very strong ammonia smell. On top of this, rodents are often noisy, making audible scrabbling noises as they move around a premise. Rats excrete about 40 dark, pellet-shaped droppings per day, which are up to 14 mm long, while mice can produce 80 oval-shaped droppings, which are typically 5 mm long. Both species of rodent will gnaw on anything to keep their teeth at a manageable size. This includes electric cables, which is perhaps the most dangerous aspect of an infestation, as it is a potential fire hazard, while also being very difficult to spot. Flies: There are approximately 7,000 different types of fly in the UK. The housefly is a common pest, carrying diseases like Salmonella and E. coli, and, as its name suggests, is often found indoors. Flies can be deterred by covering food, cleaning up spills, and making sure dustbins are tightly sealed. Dead flies act as a food source for other pests, such as rodents, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye out, and remove them as soon as you find them. Birds: Pigeons, gulls, and other bird pests are a major problem faced by hospitals up and down the UK, and can be a real headache for facilities managers. Their fouling is not only unsightly and harmful to buildings (it’s acidic), but it is also a health hazard, harbouring diseases such as Salmonella and Ornithosis.


Rule three – Remove clutter Most pests like to stay hidden and out of sight. Storage containers or clutter around premises provide rodents and insects with a place to hide, so it’s worth moving these away from walls where possible, and ensuring that any food and waste containers are properly sealed.


Rule four: fight grime with systematic deep cleaning There are areas in the facility where a visit from a specialist cleaning team is beneficial. These include hospital kitchens, communal spaces, and waiting areas, which are likely to experience high footfall. For this reason, it is recommended that these locations are deep cleaned at least twice a year to complement day-to-day cleaning routines, as well as after a pest infestation or infectious outbreak.


Before a deep clean, hospitals should undertake a consultative process that factors in the specifics of the site, weighs risk against cost and efficiency, and also considers environmental factors such as the design of the building, the footfall pattern, isolatable areas, and any specific target pathogens. This will help to


Rentokil says Harris Hawks can be used to deter pest birds without harm. ‘‘


To combat any risk of a pest infestation, hospitals should look to partner with a specialist cleaning provider, as well as pest control experts


determine the depth and frequency of the in-house cleaning regime. It will also guide how and when to implement specialist deep cleans to enhance everyday infection control measures. Following a hygiene health check or swabbing programme, manual infection control cleaning resources can be targeted in zones that have registered high microbiological readings. The areas of lesser concern can then be treated


David Cross


David Cross is the head of the Technical Training Academy at Rentokil, where he has worked for over eight years. He is involved in the design and delivery of pest control technical training courses, where participants also become experts in animal behaviour.


Paul Casson


Paul Casson is Technical field manager at Rentokil Specialist Hygiene, one of the UK’s leading providers of specialised deep cleaning and specialist industrial cleaning and disinfection services. He has worked for the company for over 10 years, contributing to its ‘wealth of expertise’ in facilities services management and operations.


July 2020 Health Estate Journal 63


with Ultra Low Volume (ULV) disinfectant fogging, to sanitise high-footfall areas and busy spaces. Fogging is a technique which enables treatment of large areas in a short space of time, generating a visible mist of tiny droplets of disinfectant, measuring 5-50 microns in diameter. This process also ensures that hard-to- reach areas, where particles and bacteria can accumulate, are treated. Studies show that application by ULV significantly reduces the number of potentially harmful pathogens.


Benefits of partnering


To combat any risk of a pest infestation, hospitals should look to partner with a specialist cleaning provider, as well as pest control experts. Together they will be able to develop and implement a regular hygiene maintenance routine, and a comprehensive contingency plan, to quickly deal with any issues that may unexpectedly arise.


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