What Does Good Pest Control Reporting Look Like?

Pest control is about more than setting traps. Good record keeping and reporting is an essential part of your commercial pest management programme.
But what does good pest control reporting look like and why do you need it?
Why you need good pest control reporting
It’s a legal requirement
You need accurate up to date pest management records to meet your requirements under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Food Safety Act 1990 and The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. You can also prove ‘due diligence’ by having a good pest control reporting system in place
Good record keeping can also help you meet your audit requirements
Comprehensive pest reporting is important when it comes to satisfying auditors, whether they are auditing on behalf of a customer, the local authority, or another regulatory organisation. Auditors will want to see evidence that you are being proactive in the management of pests on your commercial premises.
It helps you work out whether your pest management programme is working
Without detailed records, how do you know whether the steps you have taken to address a pest problem have worked? Good pest control reporting can help guide your pest control strategy and show you where you might need to adjust things as you go. For example, say you had a stored product pest infestation in your food manufacturing plant. An inspection found that a particular type of product was the cause of the infestation, so you get rid of it. Your records should show a decline in the number of moths in traps on your premises- then you would know that the action you’ve taken has worked.
What information should be kept in your pest management records?
Your pest management records should be a comprehensive record of any pest problems that have occurred, what has (and is) being done to deal with them, and what action needs to be taken in the future.
As a minimum, your pest control reporting information should include:
• Logs of any visits and services carried out by your chosen pest control company, with full names of the technicians.
• Descriptions and numbers of any pests identified or caught (including details of species). This is important because different species of the same pest can pose different threats to your property and products.
• Details of any pesticides that were used.
• Details of any treatments that were carried out-including why it’s been done and what else needs to be done (follow up visits, multiple treatments etc)
• Your full pest management report which should be updated at least annually.
• Licenses and insurance documents.

It’s also a good idea to document:
• Plans for any improvement to your pest control programme and follow up reports
• Cleaning, inspection, and maintenance schedules
• Logs of pest sightings- it can be helpful if employees are able to tell the pest control technicians which pests they’ve seen and where.
Don’t be tempted to ignore pest control reporting
Don’t be tempted to avoid keeping pest control records. Just because it’s not written down, it doesn’t mean a problem is not there. You can’t bury your head in the sand here, the stakes are too high.
If you think you’ll have a legal problem if you don’t control pests, imagine how much worse it will be if it’s found that you knew you had a problem but made no record of it and took no action.
When you have a business that’s at risk from a pest problem, like a food manufacturing plant, you aren’t going to be hauled over the coals for having a pest issue. But you will be if you don’t take action to address it.
A good pest control company will help with your reporting
A good pest control company will work with you to put an effective pest management programme in place. This will include good pest control reporting.
As a BPCA member we:
– Always follow industry best practice
– Give you expert pest prevention advice
– Provide you with comprehensive reporting systems that cover all aspects of the service we carry out
– Help you meet your legal and audit requirements

Need help with commercial pest control?
Get in touch.