Decorating Your Home for Spring

Many times people don't seem to hold their office space to the same cleanliness standards, which can lead to office pest issues. Here are four steps to take to conquer the pest problem in your office.

#1 Require All Food To Be Stored In Sealed Containers

In your office kitchen, establish a rule that all food has to be stored in a sealed container. That means no chips left in a half open bag or cereal inside of a box. To facilitate this rule, provide either plastic or glass containers for employees to use to store their food items. Make sure that this rule is clearly posted and throw away any food that doesn't meet food storage standards.

#2 Set-Up A Dishwashing Schedule

Next, office kitchens can quickly remind you of that apartment you shared with six roommates when you were in your twenties, with dishes stacked up in the sink. Establish a workplace rule that everyone has to rinse off their dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Then assign a specific employee to turn the dishwasher on at night, and someone to unload it in the morning. You can assign this task to the same person every day or rotate the duty week by week.

Keeping the dishes rinsed and everything clean will help reduce the incentive for pests to get into your office kitchen.

#3 Take Out The Trash Daily

If you don't have a cleaning staff that takes out the trash from your office kitchen at the end of each day, assign a staff member to take out the trash. Leaving trash that has food waste in it, even overnight, is a great way to attract pests to your office kitchen.

#4 Require Weekly Clean Out Of The Fridge

Require that all employees clean out and take food out of the fridge at the end of the week. Then, have your cleaning staff throw away all food outside of condiments that are left in the fridge at the end of the week. This will provide incentive for people to clean out the fridge on their own, and will prevent your fridge from becoming a breeding ground for bacteria.

Keep pests out of your office kitchen by setting up rules for keeping your office kitchen clean and requiring your employees to follow these rules. This will help eliminate your pest problem. However, if you still have pests in your kitchen, be sure to call in a pest control company to help get rid of the pests that are there.