As a business owner, it is your priority to ensure that your business premises are safe for your customers. And in this regard, you put in the effort to ensure that your premise is clean and free from any factors that pose a health and safety risk. Pests such as mice, rats, and cockroaches are carriers of diseases, viruses, and bacteria that threaten public health and safety. As such, every business owner in London and the entire UK is called upon to maintain a pest-free premise by investing in commercial pest control services to ensure early prevention and effective control of infestations.
In this article, we will talk more about the obligation of business owners regarding pest control and why you should consider professional pest control.
What Are Some of the Common Pest Control Legislations?
Pests like cockroaches, rats, and mice act as carriers of many diseases, bacteria, and viruses. Therefore, they are a threat to public health and safety. And in this regard, some pest control legislation has been put in place to obligate business owners to keep their premises free of infestations. Failure to comply with them leads to serious fines and, worst-case scenario, the closure of your business. So, what are some of the legislations you should look out for as a business owner in London?
- The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949
This act has two parts: the first part is on controlling rats and mice, and the second part is on food contamination. The former places a duty on the local authorities to ensure that business owners and landowners control mice and rats infestation on their properties. Part two obligates any food-handling business to inform the local authorities of any infestation in food. It further requires any company cleaning food containers to report any evidence of pest infestation. Where the business owners remedy infestations, the local authorities are given the power to halt business operations and destroy infested food and associated equipment.
- Food Safety Act 1990
The Food Safety Act of 1990 obligates business owners to ensure that their facilities’ seating arrangement, design, and construction are in such a way as to avoid pest harboring and food contamination. Furthermore, the legislation obligates business owners to implement Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles. Regarding this principle, they are to monitor their facilities for any signs of pests or potential hazards that might lead to pest infestation and put in control measures.
- EU’s Regulation No 852/2004
EU’s Regulation No 852/2004 is another legislation that applies particularly to food premises. It requires all enterprises dealing with food to observe good hygienic practices that prevent food contamination and pest control. Food waste is to be handled and disposed of to avoid pest infestation. Moreover, the refuse stores must be kept clean and free from rodents.
Why Commercial Pest Control?
With pest control legislation on your neck, every business owner should ensure their premise is free from pests. While the internet will give you many DIY solutions to your problem, pest control is not easy, and it is only best to involve pest control experts. This is because they spend their time learning the pests’ behavior and their response to different pest control measures. Therefore, they will assess your problem and commend the best action for applying when it comes to curbing an infestation.
And since controlling an infestation involves potentially dangerous chemicals, engaging pest control experts helps prevent hazards that could result from mishandling chemicals. Moreover, pest experts can detect an impending infestation early and advise on the best preventive measures. Lastly, the local authorities in the UK require you to keep a record of any infestation and steps taken to monitor, prevent, and control it. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that quality control measures are taken, and this is only achieved by engaging the experts.
Conclusion
Apart from pest control being a way of ensuring a great customer experience, it is a legal obligation of every business owner to keep a pest-free business premise. As such, it is important to put pest control measures in place and involve pest control experts.
