Gulf Construction Online - Masa supports regular treatment to oust pests

Hospital Construction

Masa supports regular treatment to oust pests

01 March 2006

Health-care facilities are highly-sensitive areas, where effective pest control is crucial to ensure not only that these areas are kept hygienic but also that patients, who are highly suspectible to infection, are not exposed to the threat of catching other diseases as well.

These areas needs prompt attention to identifying the specific pest problems and the expertise of qualified and experienced pest control technicians.
While it remains an obligation of hospitals and nursing homes to protect their patients from pest attacks, there is no fast and easy way of dealing with infestations where there are well-established populations of cockroaches, rodents and ants. Such cases require a regular and specialised service with the application of the recommended dosage of pesticides by pest control experts, as it takes time, funds, manpower, material and skill to ensure success.
Due to the structural complexity of modern hospitals and the fact that it is difficult - if not impossible - to join dissimilar construction materials, such as wood, brick, concrete, and steel without creating crack or crevice, these structures provide a number of harborages or hiding places for pests to exist.
Since most of the hospitals have relatively complex foundations, ants and subterranean termites can also easily find their way into these premises. However, most of these invading pests would not survive within the hospital environment unless there are conditions within and around it that promote their survival.
Hence, a thorough check of food trays and food carts from the kitchen should be conducted to ensure that they do not transfer pests to patient rooms. Frequent cleaning of food carts and sealing the crevices is a must. The entire food flow system should be given special attention including the storage areas.

Pest control
Pest control treatment in intensive care units and operating theatres should ideally to be undertaken when these facilities are empty. The primary goal should be to keep pests from entering, by creating a barrier in cracks and crevices leading into the sensitive areas. In addition, a single treatment is just not effective enough to control and eliminate pests and therefore a regular service is recommended, keeping the density of infestation in view. In patient rooms and other sensitive areas, even if there is no pest history, inspections should be made on a quarterly basis to check for any new invasions or conditions that encourage pests.
When considering the use of pesticides in hospitals, it is important to differentiate between patient-care areas and non-patient areas. The use of pesticide should be most prudent and conservative in any patient-care areas and patients should be removed from the area during such treatment.
Organic waste remains a prime attraction for pests and needs careful attention during the treatment.
Masa, a Saudi-based pest management establishment, is playing a vital role in rendering pre and post-construction termite prevention solutions to hospital and health care facilities as well as other institutional, commercial and residential projects across the kingdom.
The booming construction sector in Saudi Arabia has helped Masa to maintain its steady growth pattern and the company is enthusiastic about the business prospects for this year with a strict commitment to professionalism and delivery of quality services to its clients across the kingdom.
The company, which enjoys a long and unrivalled service track record, has further strengthened its presence in the kingdom by adding 50 new service vans to its existing fleet and is planning to add a further 20 operational service vans later during the year.