Integrated pest management, without the jargon
IPM is a sequence, not a product. What the steps are, why chemical treatment sits near the end of it, and what that means for a site owner.
Integrated pest management gets used as a synonym for "pest control done properly", which is close enough to be unhelpful. It is more specific than that. IPM is an order of operations, and the whole idea is that you do not reach for the last step first.
1 · Identify what you actually have
Different species, different answers. German cockroach and American cockroach behave differently enough that the same gel in the same place will work on one and be largely ignored by the other. Rodent species differ in where they travel and what they will approach. Getting this wrong wastes a treatment cycle and teaches the population that your bait is not worth eating.
2 · Monitor before you treat
Monitoring devices — glue boards, non-toxic monitoring blocks, insect traps — tell you where activity is and how much of it there is. This is also what turns "we have a problem" into a number that can be tracked down over subsequent visits, which is the only way to know whether a programme is working.
3 · Fix the building
This is the step clients most often want to skip and the one that does the most work. Pests need a way in, somewhere to harbour and something to eat. Most sites offer all three:
- gaps under delivery doors and around service penetrations
- standing water in drains and under equipment
- food debris behind and beneath fixed equipment
- cardboard stored against walls — harbourage and a food source at once
- bins overfilled or stored too close to the building
- vegetation touching an exterior wall
None of that is a chemical problem. A site that closes these can drop its chemical load substantially, which is better for the food, the staff, the resistance profile of the local population and the invoice.
4 · Treat, with the least aggressive thing that works
Only now, and starting with the most targeted option. A gel placed where the insects actually run beats a broadcast spray on almost every measure: less product, less exposure for staff, less residue near food, and better results. Broad application has its place, but it is a step up, not a default.
5 · Record it, and check whether it worked
Monitoring continues after treatment, because "we sprayed and did not see any more" is not evidence. Counts falling across visits is evidence. Counts flat after two cycles means the diagnosis or the placement is wrong and the answer is not more of the same chemical.
What this means if you are buying pest control
A vendor working this way will spend the first visit surveying rather than spraying, will tell you about your own building's shortcomings, and will quote against a programme rather than a frequency. They will also, over time, use less chemical on your site rather than more.
A vendor who arrives, sprays the perimeter, leaves a docket and returns next month regardless of what the monitoring says is not doing IPM. That can still be the right purchase for some sites — but it should be a decision, not a surprise at the audit.
Written for facility managers and QA heads. If something here does not match what your auditor is asking for, call us on and we will go through it — whether or not you are a client.