Using a handheld device, technicians can collect information from individual stations and download specifics on service times, pest activity and pesticide usage into a central database. The approach saves time, money and can eliminate the use of unnecessary pesticides.

During the month of May, North American Occupational Safety and Health Week was observed. But the objective of this awareness week – to help ensure a healthy and productive work environment – must be carried out every day.

Commercial real estate professionals can help prospective and current building owners ensure healthy environments for their tenants and employees by keeping informed about the factors that affect the environmental quality of their properties. These factors include pests and the techniques used to manage them. Pests may not only compromise human health, but overall environmental problems resulting from poor pest management practices can negatively affect property values.

Since 1980, requests to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to investigate indoor environmental quality have increased nearly seven-fold, from 8 percent of the total requests to 52 percent. NIOSH found that many factors contribute to workplace health problems, including insufficient ventilation, tobacco smoke and microbiological and chemical contaminants.

Microbiological contaminants include pests such as cockroaches and rodents, which can be the triggers or causes of a host of human diseases. Bacteria and allergens can be transmitted to humans when aerosolized particles of pest urine, droppings or remains become airborne and are inhaled. For example, cockroaches have been found to trigger asthma in children, which causes shortness of breath, wheezing, tightness in the chest and excessive coughing. Cockroaches can thrive in virtually any environment that provides an abundant source of water and food – and food for a cockroach can range from human food sources to cardboard and anything in between.

Deer mice are associated with hantavirus, a sometimes fatal cardio-pulmonary disease. While hantavirus has primarily been a concern in the Southwest, it has been found in the Midwest and Northeast as well. Rodents can also harbor and spread hundreds of bacteria, contaminating food and product.

These are just a few of the dangers tied to pests – there are many, many more.

Pests can ruin a business. But the excessive use of pesticides is equally undesirable and potentially harmful to human health. Not only does using too much pesticide pollute the air, it can also lead to pesticide resistance and increase a pest problem instead of eliminating it.

That’s why a growing number of pest management firms now offer reduced-pesticide usage alternatives. These alternatives may include monitors, bait stations or organic products such as foams, which are all non-volatile alternatives to sprays and harsh chemicals.

Environmentally responsible programs feature a multi-pronged approach to pest management. The reduced-pesticide methods may include inspection of the problem, physical removal of pests by vacuuming, a review of options for containment, followed by monitoring, minor structural repair as necessary, prevention and follow-up. The use of high-end technology, such as bar code monitoring, can also play an important role in reduced pesticide-use pest management. Bar code devices are being used to track pesticide placement and usage. The technology allows both clients and technicians to track recommendations and degree of compliance, analyze pest activity, including seasonal trends, and make any necessary program adjustments. A key advantage of this technology is that the nature of a pest problem is pinpointed for corrective action.

Each monitoring device or bait station installed at a job site is outfitted with a “zebra stripe” bar code symbol. Using a handheld device, technicians key important information about the stations into a central database such as structural, storage and sanitation issues, as well as service times and dates, pest activity and pesticide usage.

Such a program allows technicians to focus attention on the right places – saving time and eliminating the use of unnecessary pesticides. It keeps the air in the buildings for sale and lease safe and saves building owners’ money.

The most advanced pest management programs that use an environmentally friendly approach will guarantee elimination of existing problems – including infestations of cockroaches, mice and rats.

To assist in preventing pest infestations, here are a few common sense tips for building owners, property managers and tenants:

• Keep food and garbage containers closed. Don’t leave food out or allow clutter to accumulate, even in out-of-the-way places. Trash and debris serve as common pest harborages and food sources.

• Keep all spaces clean. That goes for break rooms, food service areas, common areas and restrooms. At lunch time, make sure everyone watches out for crumbs and spills.

• Regularly mop hard-surface floors and wash countertops.

• Have maintenance caulk cracks, crevices and other openings where pests can enter. A mouse can fit through an opening as small as one-fourth an inch in size.

• Eliminate unwanted water sources by repairing leaky faucets and drains and monitoring sprinkler systems for over-watering.

• Install air curtains above exterior doorways, a simple and pesticide-free way to keep pests from entering your establishment. The device consists of a squirrel cage fan – so called because it looks like an exercise wheel for small pets installed above a doorway. It blows a constant current of air across the threshold, keeping out flying insects while the door is open.

• Trim plants away from your facility and its foundation. Not only can foliage allow pests entry through nearby cracks or crevices but it also traps moisture close to the structure, which can attract unwanted guests.

The environmentally responsible approach provides clients, tenants and employees with a pest-free environment while reducing the need for potentially harmful pesticides. And, by using this advanced form of pest management combined with the latest technology, building owners can be confident that such an approach will help enhance the overall environmental quality of the buildings they have bought or leased.