Child Care Centre Pest Control Services: Proven Safe and Child Friendly

Children need protection. A safe and secure environment is necessary for a child to grow in life and learning. Child care centre pest control services must be carefully managed to prevent injury, disease and property damage.

An effective child care centre pest control management plan minimises disruption to learning and physical activities. It also prevents the spread of pests from the centre into the community and family homes.

That’s why an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solution is essential. It takes into account human behaviour, building and grounds, indoor and outdoor play areas; including sandpits, gardens and pets. At Suburban Pest Management, we provide 100% support for IPMs.

A Child-Friendly Pest Control Approach

Our approach to pest management for child care centres is all-encompassing. We’ve been servicing child care centres in Queensland for over 30 years. During that time, we’ve gathered data about the type of pests daycare centres want to target.

Suburban Pest Management offers the best long-term solution for childcare centre pest control services. We use child safe and child friendly methods while still achieving results. If you need help developing your pest management plan for your centre, just ask our qualified technicians.

Managing pest control in a child care centre requires prompt attention. Cockroaches, for example, can cause asthma attacks, and more children are becoming prone to asthma every year. So, even if you see one cockroach, it’s possible there are more hidden out of sight.

Under Quality Area 2 of the National Quality Framework for child care and early learning, children’s health and safety are paramount. Child care centres must minimise risks, protect children from harm, injury and infection.

Professional Childcare Pest Control Services for Young Children

At Suburban Pest Management, we can help you achieve this goal with quality pest control services. We don’t just react to a problem, we take a proactive approach to reduce risks before they become a problem. We can help you provide a child safe and secure childcare centre environment with:

• Integrated pest management
• Pest and vermin control
• A safe and child-friendly care setting
• Best practice pest control policies and procedures
• Eliminating potential hazards in childcare.

What is Integrated Pest Management

An integrated pest management plan (IPM) is a long-term pest suppression strategy with the environment in mind. It combines minimum pesticides with pest behavioural data to reduce risk to people, property and the environment by the most efficient means.

Daycare and early learning centres are responsible for choosing the least hazardous chemical control options. Children have much closer contact with floors and walls than adults. Our job is to know pest management products, and we apply only the most environmentally safe ones.

Additionally, our child care centre pest control service monitors and predicts pest problems. Following a thorough pest inspection, we also provide a comprehensive report with recommendations for physical and behavioural pest solutions.

As part of our approach to integrated pest management, we work with you to:

• Identify the safest and most economical methods for pest and vermin control
• Organise regular inspections to audit and review pest control methods
• Observe pest behaviour and levels with electronic monitoring stations
• Establish pest levels of tolerance
• Assist with record keeping
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your IPM plan.

Child Safe Pest Control in Child Care Centres

With 30 years’ experience servicing childcare centres in South-East Queensland, we’ve collected comprehensive information on pest control. The pests most likely to affect daycare and early learning centres are cockroaches, spiders, rodents, flies and ants.

Cockroaches can spread disease and can cause diarrhea, allergic reactions, and asthma. That’s some serious stuff. They often live in groups and during the day will hide in boxes, cracks, electronic devices, drains and sewers.

Spiders can jump and bite. Some spiders are more harmful to humans than others; some inject toxins that can be fatal if left untreated. Their fangs also have a painful sting which can cause local swelling.

Rodents destroy property, carry and spread diseases. Brisbane has two types of pest rats, the Norway rat and the smaller grey or black, Roof Rat.

Flies have been tormenting Australians for years. While it’s an Aussie custom to learn the salute at an early age, we want to minimise contact with the common house fly. They visit places like rubbish tips and sewerage works, and they also like to drink our sweat.

Ants bite while others sting. And they bite multiple times. They carry away food scraps. There are thousands of different ant varieties with black ants the most common. They may seem harmless, but a severe ant infestation can cause property damage.

Termites can also be an issue in child care centres. It all depends on the building design, construction materials, building age, and other internal and external factors incuding frequency of termite inspections and treatments.

Using Child Safe Chemicals For A Healthy Childcare Setting

The products we use for childcare centre pest control services require no PPE or personal protective equipment. They’re safe for children, educators and our technicians with no known reactions when used correctly.

None of the products we use have strong odours, nor do they stain, so they leave no trace nor nasty after effects.

If deemed that your centre does require the use of pesticides, we come in after hours to apply the treatment after all the children have left. Suburban provides you with instructions on how to prepare for the treatments and what to do afterwards. This includes detailed information about the chemicals we’ve used.

Suburban Pest Management maintains a safe and healthy child care setting

Best Practice Pest Control Policies and Procedures for Child Care Centres

Suburban uses comprehensive inspection methods, treatments and rechecks to keep your centre pest and vermin free. We only employ best practices in pest control policies and procedures.

When asked for a quote, we’ll provide you with a rough assessment for free.

A pest inspection will provide you with a thorough assessment. The report lists problem areas with recommendations for pest control and compares the effectiveness of different treatment options.

When we investigate, we look at the conditions that attract and harbour pests, and we recommend changes, which might include changes to cleaning practices, pest proofing buildings, and alternative methods of pest control.

On arrival, we provide the centre with an onsite folder. It’s a record book that logs our visits and what we do on site. It also contains information on monthly or quarterly treatments and a rundown of pest sightings. We encourage centre staff to log any sightings in the folder.

Also included in the folder is an on-site service report. It lists the types of pests we’re treating, such as cockroaches or spiders, and contains a chemical log sheet. As well, the folder includes a certificate of currency from our insurance provider.  

After we’ve made our assessment, we’ll decide what solutions to use. We provide Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) or copies of product labels for any chemicals or products we have used on request.

In addition to the service folder, Suburban also provides customers with an online customer portal for scheduling and reporting. As a childcare centre client, you’ll get secure access to photos, reports and historical data.

All our service technicians carry Queensland pest management technician licenses, working with children checks – Blue cards and have also completed a National Police Check.

Pest control policies and procedures for all child care environments

 HACCP (FOOD SAFETY) Certified

We have a HACCP (FOOD SAFETY) system in place and have met the requirements for provision of pest control management services for food processing, manufacturing, and food handling facilities. For childcare centres, this means that we have the systems in place for pest control services in food preparation areas.

HACCP (FOOD SAFETY)

‍Eliminating Potential Hazards in Child Care

As part of our commitment to integrated pest management, we work closely with daycare and early learning centres to eliminate potential hazards in child care environments. Don’t have an IPM? That’s okay, we can also help you create one.

As part of our pest control services, we’ll discuss with you the type of pests and vermin you want to target. As well, Suburban works with you to address your safety-related concerns including the use of chemicals and other treatments. Communication is a big part of our service.

You may still see the odd pest for a short period after treatment. We’ll advise you on how you can take action to reduce pests and eliminate potential hazards, especially those relevant to food preparation areas and waste management.