In March 2015, following several years of intensive work, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) published its EN16636 Standard for Pest Management Services.
Evidence of pests in a kitchen situation, whether public or private, would be seen as a significant risk to health, and the decision to make is whether to try to deal with this yourself or to engage professional services.
Professional Services
If you decide on professional services for your pest control, you should be aware of this new European Standard (EN16636) for pest management services. You should ensure that the company you engage is certified to these standards, as it gives advice on how to offer not only a quality service but a safe one both to human and animal health and to the environment. This new standard doesn’t cover just operatives carrying out pest control; it also sets out competency guidelines for admin staff, sales people and technical advisers.
Employing a company that adheres to the EN16636 standard will ensure that they follow standard proven processes, and it helps to prevent any errors. The company will have to have set up a formal internal quality control which will include an auditable documentation process.
Bird Nuisance
Most people will consider pests to be things such as rodents and insects, but another area of pest management includes nuisance bird management. For example, pigeons and gulls can be a huge problem. They damage property and block flues or chimneys, which in turn can reduce venting and create a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Birds can also carry other infections such as salmonella and e. coli and they also carry their own insect pests. Birds can also cause a secondary issue of rats from the build-up of leftover insect bodies and droppings.
As pest control companies such as Vvenv will tell you, most of the time it isn’t just a case of eradicating the current birds from the area – you also have to bird-proof your property for the future. If you contact Vvenv about nuisance bird management services, they will consider the behavioural complexities of pigeons and put deterrents in place whilst still complying with CEN16636
Controlling pests and birds can be a long-term management challenge, but using companies that are accredited will ensure you are receiving the best advice and complying with EU regulations.
