7 Top Tips to Keep Common Pests Out of Your Office Environment!

Table of Contents

1. Pests in the Office[+]
   1. Enforce a Clean Workspace
   2. Set Up a Designated Eating Area
   3. Empty Garbage Cans Daily
   4. Keep Storage Organized
   5. Check Your Office Exterior
   6. Maintain Indoor Plants
   7. Consider Essential Oil Sprays
   8. Keep Common Pests Out of Your Office Environment
2. Final Thought

Keep Common Pests Out of Your Office Environment! Depending on the type of work you do, your office can be an incredibly stressful environment. Ringing phones, nagging co-workers, and continued deadlines are only a few of the factors you have to deal with daily.

It becomes slightly more stressful when you add cockroaches, ants, or even rats to the office dynamic. Luckily, along with enlisting the help of pest control Shepparton office managers can also try the following tips to manage and even prevent pest problems. When everyone works together, hygiene becomes much easier!

Pests in the Office

An office full of employees equals many different lunch tins, desk dustbins, and crumbs from snacking. All these factors make your office an interesting stomping ground for all sorts of pests. Fortunately, there are some cost-effective ways you can reduce any creature infestation.

Enforce a Clean Workspace

If you work in an environment where customers and guests often visit, your company probably has a cleaner on staff. Some offices though, don’t have any dealings with customers on-site. So, the atmosphere may be a little more relaxed, and unfortunately, spaces tend to become untidy. But irrespective of what type of office environment you’re working in, it should be cleaned daily. Each employee should be responsible for keeping their workstations clean.

Set Up a Designated Eating Area

Where possible, avoid eating at workstations. Food leads to crumbs being dropped all over, which get wiped off the desk and end up in all the crevices of your workstation. Cockroaches and ants can smell these discarded crumbs and will soon make their way to your desk.

Set up a designated kitchen or canteen area where staff can eat. Ensure the kitchen has a dustbin with a lid that closes. While this won’t keep pests out of your office, it’s easier to keep one dustbin under control. Enforce a rule that each person is responsible for their own clean-up after using that kitchen space.

Empty Garbage Cans Daily

You might have a garbage bin at every workstation as well as in the kitchen/canteen area. It’s important to empty garbage cans daily. The longer food scraps are left in a bin, the more appetizing they become for neighborhood pests.

Keep Storage Organized

While many offices have decreased their paper trail, there are still types of industries that make use of a lot of printed administration. A lot of paper stored in one place can lead to booklice or bookworms moving in.

Store any administrative documents in sealed boxes where pests like lice and rodents can’t get in. Then, don’t keep documents any longer than you need to. Ensure you label the boxes so that you still know where which documents are and which ones you can throw away. Consider recycling all your old paperwork.

Check Your Office Exterior

A squeaky-clean office might not keep unwanted pests out of your office space. They might have reason to set up shop outside. It’s important to ensure that the exterior of your office is clean and garbage-free as well.

Wash paving areas weekly to rinse away any crumbs that might be lying there. Keeping the exterior of your building is as important as cleaning the inside office space!

Maintain Indoor Plants

Certain indoor plants are good for office environments. They add a pop of color to the space and go a long way toward lifting employee spirits. Live indoor plants in the office boost moods, reduce stress, and even increase creativity.

However, employees with good intentions might overwater the plants. When plants are over-saturated, fungus gnats have the perfect breeding ground. These gnats feed on plant roots and fungi.

Once their eggs hatch, they spread pollen which in turn leads to other pests. Maintain your plants by ensuring they’re not overwatered, and removing any dead foliage.

Consider Essential Oil Sprays

In addition to regular cleaning and general housekeeping, you can also consider making an essential oil spray for problem areas. Make a mixture of water and a few drops of essential oil in a spray bottle. Spray areas like the kitchen/canteen and other spaces where dustbins are kept. Do this in the evening before leaving the office.

Essential oils are a natural, poison-free way to keep pests away. Additionally, it adds a mood-lifting fragrance to your space. Just tell your employees that you’re going to spritz the dustbins so they can inform you of any allergies they have.

Keep Common Pests Out of Your Office Environment

The trick is to pick one essential oil that ticks most of your boxes. Too many contrasting fragrances might lead to a headache! The most popular options include the following:

• Peppermint oil: Deters spiders, mosquitoes, flies, and ants
• Lemongrass oil: Good for fruit flies and mosquitoes and also good for keeping pests off tables and counters
• Tea tree oil: Prevents lice, spiders, mosquitoes

Final Thought

While you might have to put up with the office gossip, you don’t have to put up with pests like cockroaches, ants, and rats. All of these annoying creatures spread disease and can be difficult to eradicate if an entire colony moves in.

Cleaning, organizing, and daily management of the garbage in your space is the best way to keep these pests out. If all else fails, your local pest control contractor will assist you with your pest problem and advise you on maintenance going forward!

Thank you for reading!