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Hotels, Palaces & Luxury Villas

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Masa excludes pests from exclusive areas

Pest control in hotels, palaces, luxury villas and other large premises can be a challenge, given the scale and sensitivity of these areas, says Mousaied S Shieshakly, general manager of Saudi-based Masa Establishment For Pest Extermination Services.

01 November 2006

Pest control operations take on a larger magnitude and importance in large-scale premises such as hotels, palaces and luxury villas, which are sizeable community areas featuring a number of buildings and areas dedicated to various functions, ranging from residential and kitchen areas to bars, offices and shops.

While these areas can provide a haven for pests such as termites, cockroaches, rats, mice, ants, mosquitoes and flies to nest in, any pest control action taken must be based on principles that are effective, safe, legal and civilised, bearing in mind that apart from people they can accommodate pets.
Before attempting to control pests, it is important to understand the reasons why such a problem exists in the first place. Various aspects of the biology and ecology of the species involved also have to be considered in the pest control treatment.
Controlling pests in hotels, palaces and luxury villas requires more than just pesticides. Good co-operation with the clients, effective scheduling, regular inspection and record-keeping along with a good measure of diplomacy are needed for success.
The following steps are essential for an organised method of pest control treatment in these premises:

Client cooperation
The first step is to ensure that the client’s staff isn’t simply sitting back and leaving everything to the pest control operator and the client has to ensure that the housekeeping, kitchen and ground staff as well as security personnel and others all cooperate in the pest control efforts.
The operators will need access to potential pest sites including small zoos, laundry areas, machinery rooms and storage areas. A lockable closet to store pest control supplies, including an extra uniform, pest report forms, and a ladder are all required, which have to be worked out in an initial meeting with the client.

Mapping & scheduling
It is important to obtain or draw maps of each area within the complex to determine which areas are around the problem sites that are to be treated. The location of all the common areas such as the laundry, kitchen, maintenance shop, indoor pool, bar, store, and banquet hall should be mapped along with the hours of operation of each facility and the best time for treatment. This will help to set up a treatment schedule. Other problem areas to be marked will include large potted plants, trash cans and ash trays in halls or lobbies, electrical closets, service elevators, receiving areas for flowers, food, and other deliveries, outdoor garbage disposal sites, guest rooms with kitchen facilities, locker rooms, steam rooms and saunas, linen closets, housekeeping rooms as well as garbage storage and vending and ice machines on each floor.

Inspection & record keeping
The client’s representative should be the main contact for new pest sightings or problems. Regular meetings should be held with department supervisors to explain the programme and discuss progress and problems.
The management should be provided detailed reports on sanitation, when and where pest control services were last performed and what chemicals and their material and safety data sheets (MSDS) and procedures were used

Control
The control methods used in these large establishments depend on the particular site of treatment. It is important to focus on the room service carts, which can spread the infestation and the procedure for handling emergency pest complaints. It is essential to use low-odor or no-odour insecticides in these premises.
Among all the pests generally found in buildings, termites are the most destructive. Termite control is an important element in building construction to maintain and protect the wood and other materials that make up the structure. Termite control is now gradually shifting from conventional soil treatment methods to environmentally-friendly and easy-to-use methods.
Subterranean termites in particular can only infest building structures by tunnelling in through the soil and controlling them effectively entails blocking the tunnel entry points. Since termites cannot penetrate concrete, a simple way of blocking them is to set the wooden components on the concrete foundation of the building.
The application of liquid termiticides to soil has been the mainstay of subterranean termite control for over 50 years. The objective is to create a continuous chemical barrier that excludes termites in the ground from entering buildings. In actual practice, however, it is all but impossible to achieve complete and uniform termiticide coverage around and beneath a building. Nonetheless, the goal should be a thorough application, because gaps of untreated soil are generally associated with treatment failures. Especially important is that liquid termiticide be placed to deny termites access to entry points. Termites attempting to penetrate through the untreated soil are either killed or repelled.
Much training and on-the-job experience is needed to properly treat a building and knowledge of building construction is necessary to identify the critical areas where termites can enter. One must also learn how to optimally treat these areas to protect against termites while avoiding contamination and other treatment-related problems. A conventional application may require hundreds of gallons of termiticide solution injected to the soil beneath concrete slabs, and within foundation walls. Liquid applications also require specialised equipment such as masonry drills, carbide bits, pumps, large capacity tanks, soil rods, sub-slabs injectors and foam machines.
Although liquid soil treatment is a key method of preventing or alleviating termite attack, it should not be viewed as a substitute for good construction practices. Eliminating termite-conducive conditions, such as excessive moisture and wood-to-earth contact, will further enhance the effectiveness of termiticide treatments – a recommendation that has been made for more than 60 years. Correcting these deficiencies is even more important today, given the higher cost and shorter residual life of the more recent termiticides, and preponderance of industry litigation.
Masa Establishment for Pest Extermination Services is a pioneer in pest management, research and consulting in the kingdom. The company has successfully treated and saved thousands of dwellings, artworks, archives, museums, antiques, wooden frames and other similar materials from wood-infesting insects, thus making a major contribution for the protection of health, food, property and the environment in the region through its 26 years of service.