Because cleaning is a broad topic in commercial settings, its bumps up against many other professional services. In this case, we’re discussing exterminating (AKA Pest Management). Many offices, elementary schools, high schools, universities, daycare and others, face the occasional bug or mouse. Some will deal with rodents and less savory critters.

A proper and deep cleaning service is often the first course of action.

Removing what that pest finds attractive helps to stop the issue. But when the solution requires more than cleaning, the Cleaning Company Owner has some decisions to make. A good decision is based on your knowledge of structural issues, legalities, the surrounding environment and your professional connections. Add to that the ability to professionally communicate to your client. A poor choice CAN result in facing fines and losing insurance coverage. In more serious instances, this can even lead to harming someone employed by your cleaning customer. Before doing what your client may have requested, consider THOSE options. Your client is likely good at their job but may not understand the ramifications of what they’re asking you to do. I.e.: “Just get a can of bug spray and take care of the break room.”

Proper handling of materials and pesticides is part of DEC training for Pest Management. Those are not part of the extensive training a commercial cleaner goes through.

Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial

Commercial cleaning & janitorial services are industries with a long history. As careers or businesses, they can be easy to start. Few people think much about their cleaning staff, until there’s a problem. Our intention is not to overemphasize the importance of you commercial cleaning service or janitorial staff. It IS to confirm that vacuuming and trash can removal are the simple tasks. Other topics may require some expertise. As a cleaning professional, it’s important for you to know where your expertise and responsibility ends. At some point, you’ll need to communicate that to your customer. And solving their problems with your knowledge and connections will elevate you and serve your customer. DOC’S Facilities Consulting is available for Team Training, Sales Training, On-Going Consulting and Building Service Contractor Owner Coaching. Contact us here, or call 585-413-0574.

Ray

Folks, we’re back and we’re starting a new series called “Blurry Lines”. Joel, we discussed services that bump up against janitorial custodial services but aren’t janitorial and custodial services.

 

Joel

But a lot of companies think they are.

 

Ray

Right. So pest control was one of the places that we went to recently.

 

Joel

Pest control actually comes up quite a bit where people think that we have direct influence over the pests that come into a building. A client had reached out to me and said, Oh, I have either gnats or I have fruit flies, and you need to remove them tonight. Well, great.

 

Ray

Now, you and I had a conversation around this because I have a background in pest control.

 

Joel

And that’s the first part I did once I got the email was, All right, I know a certain amount because I work with companies like when you were at the pest control company. So, I know a lot about other industries, but I’m not an expert in those areas. So, I reached out to you. I did some additional research, and your first comment to me was, Well were they gnats or were they fruit flies? And my question back to you was, Well, I don’t know. And you said, Well, it makes a big difference between what you had told me as well as my own research to figure out what’s the difference between gnats and fruit flies. And what attracts them and what are the things that we as a cleaning company might be able to do to help remedy the situation. So, can a cleaning company help with the pest control side of things? Absolutely we can, because if we’re not doing our jobs right and we’re not replacing liners and we’re not cleaning the insides of trash cans when there’s leakages or seepage of food or water or anything like that that gets into a liner and may go past the liner into a trash can.

 

Joel

If we’re not doing those things right, then, yes, there is a possibility that things are going to be attracted in. But other things, as fruit flies, they’re like bed bugs. They ride. They come in on the fruit that people bring in for their breakfast, their lunch, their snacks. And then when people are not throwing it out in the appropriate areas, if they’re throwing it out in their own waste can at their desk or out on a sales floor, a factory floor, or something like that, it’s going to draw fruit flies potentially into other areas of the building. In addition to this particular time and doing research, and what you told me was that (heat and) humidity has a big impact on the production of fruit flies. And we were coming off of one of the highest humid times in our city for the year. So, it would only make sense why there was an issue. And then with gnats, they’re attracted to biologicals, meaning plants. They do have live plants in the facility as well. And that would fall, again, in either the pest control side of things or potentially with anybody who they hire an outside vendor that’s working with the plants.

 

Ray

Because there are businesses that specifically do that.

 

Joel

Yes. And those are not areas that we have. But again, when we did our research, we really did find out it was the fruit, flies, and not gnats. But it was important to understand the difference so that we could help research and find out why and why.

 

Ray

But it seems to me really the greatest area of concern when we had our conversation was the legalities It’s the place that the police of it. Yes, identify the pest so you can determine what to do. For many pests, housekeeping is the place that the pest control company or the exterminator is going to go to first. Please go clean this up. Now, that’s in your purview, professionally, as a janitorial services company. What’s not is laying down anything that remotely resembles pesticides because you’re not an applicator. I don’t know a commercial cleaner that is. You can get in a lot of trouble with the DEC.

 

Joel

Correct. And that’s where the blurry line comes. People think we can just pick up some RAID* at the corner store, the do it yourself place, and come in and spray it. But because it’s a poisoning your killing things. What are you doing to the people in the building? What’s the liability? And if I were to do those types of things, my insurance company would cancel me in a heartbeat. So, it’s like you think that you want to take care of the client, but really taking care of a client is educating a client and allowing them to understand where your responsibility comes up to and bumps up against another industry and where that industry has to take over. So, if I’m doing everything that I can and the problem continues, then you have to talk to the other company. Because in this case, you have to have licenses. Because you are working with poisons and you’re placing them. I know from talking to you and other people in the industry that you have to document, Well, I put this poison and this amount of that poison in this facility on this day at this time.

 

Ray

I came back and checked it at this day and this time. Joel, it seems like in this topic, we are sharing two equally important paths for the cleaning company owner. He or she needs to go to the customer. We’ve identified this. We’re performing the housekeeping services that we need to. That’s what we are allowed to do. The other for the cleaning company owner is being networked to someone who is in extermination, in pest management. Because not only is that an easy business referral, but that’s very likely someone who’s also calling on other businesses who can send work back and forth to you.

 

Joel

That’s correct. We work with a company in the Rochester market right now called Lady Bugs, and it’s owned by Dara Renner (Petralia). I’ve known Dara for years because she’s also a commercial real estate agent. Which makes sense on why she got into pest control. But working with her and her technicians and her salespeople. We’re able to better network across Monroe County and the other counties in the area because of that.

 

Ray

Excellent advice, Joel, and great outreach, both to local business and for cleaning company owners.

 

Joel

Thank you, sir.

 

*RAID is a trademarked product owned by the S.C. Johnson company.