Talking Stick - May/June 2012 - 24

FaCilities

basis of a strong IPM program, and the pest management provider must be trained in inspection, identification, treatment, and monitoring. The educational components to the IPM steps and process are available through a variety of sources such as the EPA, USDA-supported regional IPM centers, and college and university entomology department websites. IPM training for the maintenance staff includes providing them with information about sealing up entryways, door thresholds, windows, cracks, and any other avenues of entry for the pests. This simultaneously addresses two steps in IPM: exclusion and harborage denial. The maintenance staff also serves as a set of eyes at the front line that can observe what is going on structurally in the buildings. During their daily maintenance and repairs

to the buildings, they may observe issues that need to be addressed as a pest management problem. Educating the maintenance staff in the types of indicators to look for during their work activities can help them locate and eliminate infestations before they become a major problem. This training can be conducted by in-house pest management staff, contracted pest management, or even entomology staff from the university or extension service. The custodial and residence life staff will normally have much closer contact with the students and student living areas than do any of the other members of the IPM coalition. For this reason, their education on the habits of various pests and indicators of infestation is of prime importance. Their familiarity with common areas and the daily habits of residents provides them with unique

views of situations that are conducive to pest development and management. The custodial and residence life staffs are also intimately aware of sanitation issues that may provide food for pests. The IPM philosophy is that if a pest manages to obtain entrance to the facility, there should not be any food to sustain it. The sanitation issue is one that requires a vigilant battle in most student residence facilities. Education of the students and having procedures in place to encourage them to keep the facility in a sanitary condition are a key part of the IPM process. Even when all these steps have been undertaken with vigor and enthusiasm, there will be an occasion when treatment will be necessary. The IPM process does not prohibit the use
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Talking Stick - May/June 2012

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